Live from TIFF: Smiley Face
Smiley Face ***
Directed by Gregg Araki
88 Minutes
After missing a few screenings last Sunday because I saw a "Midnight Madness" movie, I decided not to go to those crazy late night shows-so I did the next best thing-a 10pm screening of the stoner comedy "Smiley Face," directed by Gregg Araki. If you are unfamiliar with him, he did the very powerful "Mysterious Skin" two years ago, and this is a full 360 degree turn from that film. But it's just as good, certainly not better. Now I never smoked pot, but I still enjoy a good pot comedy-films like "Half Baked" and "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" are just as funny sober as they are high, and "Smiley Face" can certainly go on the shelves as a cult pot movie. I was actually hoping for a more rowdy audience, but sadly everyone seemed pretty straight.
The very very funny Anna Faris plays Jane, a young aspiring actress that likes to enjoy a nice toke once in a while. She makes a horrible mistake by smoking at 9am, and then gets hungry. In the fridge she finds a whole plate of cupcakes that her creepy roommate Steve made for a comic book convention, and she decides to eat them all and then make him more cupcakes. But little does she know that they are filled with pot, and she just consumed about ten of them. She decides to make a plan for the rest of the day-buy more pot, make more cupcakes, get to her acting audition, and still have money to pay the power bill. but it all goes downhill and she digs herself in a deeper and deeper hole, enlisting the aid of Brevin Ericcson (played by John Krasinski" who doesn't make one awkward silly face to the camera-he CAN do something more than Jim!
'Smiley Face" was a great film to end the night with-a pure straight comedy with about eighty percent of the jokes actually being winners. Faris is great, and is literally stoned for every second, except maybe the last scene, and she never breaks out of character-always remaining that ditzy and innocent type. Araki really does make the whole movie seemed frantic and cluttered-he works with a lot of closeups to really enclose Jane in a more jarring situation. And I think the funniest thing about the whole film was the narration by Roscoe Lee Brown, who makes himself know that he is Roscoe Lee Brown. How he even ended up getting into this project is probably another story, but whoever came up with the idea was right on target. "Smiley Face" is a very funny and very enjoyable stoner comedy, and it was neat seeing a different side to Araki after the very dark "Mysterious Skin."
This was slated for release last April-4/20 to be exact, but it got moved. I just read that First Look apparently didn't have enough to market it, and this will probably get a direct to DVD release next year. It's a shame.
Directed by Gregg Araki
88 Minutes
After missing a few screenings last Sunday because I saw a "Midnight Madness" movie, I decided not to go to those crazy late night shows-so I did the next best thing-a 10pm screening of the stoner comedy "Smiley Face," directed by Gregg Araki. If you are unfamiliar with him, he did the very powerful "Mysterious Skin" two years ago, and this is a full 360 degree turn from that film. But it's just as good, certainly not better. Now I never smoked pot, but I still enjoy a good pot comedy-films like "Half Baked" and "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" are just as funny sober as they are high, and "Smiley Face" can certainly go on the shelves as a cult pot movie. I was actually hoping for a more rowdy audience, but sadly everyone seemed pretty straight.
The very very funny Anna Faris plays Jane, a young aspiring actress that likes to enjoy a nice toke once in a while. She makes a horrible mistake by smoking at 9am, and then gets hungry. In the fridge she finds a whole plate of cupcakes that her creepy roommate Steve made for a comic book convention, and she decides to eat them all and then make him more cupcakes. But little does she know that they are filled with pot, and she just consumed about ten of them. She decides to make a plan for the rest of the day-buy more pot, make more cupcakes, get to her acting audition, and still have money to pay the power bill. but it all goes downhill and she digs herself in a deeper and deeper hole, enlisting the aid of Brevin Ericcson (played by John Krasinski" who doesn't make one awkward silly face to the camera-he CAN do something more than Jim!
'Smiley Face" was a great film to end the night with-a pure straight comedy with about eighty percent of the jokes actually being winners. Faris is great, and is literally stoned for every second, except maybe the last scene, and she never breaks out of character-always remaining that ditzy and innocent type. Araki really does make the whole movie seemed frantic and cluttered-he works with a lot of closeups to really enclose Jane in a more jarring situation. And I think the funniest thing about the whole film was the narration by Roscoe Lee Brown, who makes himself know that he is Roscoe Lee Brown. How he even ended up getting into this project is probably another story, but whoever came up with the idea was right on target. "Smiley Face" is a very funny and very enjoyable stoner comedy, and it was neat seeing a different side to Araki after the very dark "Mysterious Skin."
This was slated for release last April-4/20 to be exact, but it got moved. I just read that First Look apparently didn't have enough to market it, and this will probably get a direct to DVD release next year. It's a shame.
posted by Eric at
3:38 AM
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