Review of Smiley Face (2007) by David S — 26 Sep 2009

It pays to read Sundance blogs. Smiley Face premiered at the 2007 fest and got quite a lot of buzz before it even screened. Turns out I was not the only Gregg Araki fan excited to hear of his foray into a straight up comedy, rather than another dark humored, esoteric commentary on over-stimulated youth.

Although well received by the audience, it was not picked up for theatrical distribution. A year later I had a pleasant surprise to find the dvd on the shelves of Hollywood Video.

Loved it! I practically fell out of my chair onto the floor for the 1st screening. I'm not a fan of stoner movies in general (Pineapple Express and Half Baked exempted) but this one got me. Araki put his signature dark satire flavor into this script, which was not written by him for once. I guess I related a little too well to the situational logic and humor of Jane F's interesting day.

So for Gregg Araki fans and pot-heads this flick is a great combo. For everyone else, not so sure. (Don't judge it from the weak trailer here and on imdb.).

Favorite moment - "Lady" by Styx playing over montage of Brevin's pining for Jane F.