User reviews

I've read a lot of angry comments about this movie, claiming it's "bashing" on "stoners" and anti-pot propaganda. This is not the case. If you're familiar with Araki's directing and themes in creating movies, it would be easy to recognize this as a satire. Obviously things of this extreme nature don't happen to people who smoke pot, but I like my comedies to have an entertaining plot. This movie would be horrible if all the protagonist did was lay around high in her home.

Unlike most "stoner movies," this one stands out as being one of the most original ones I can recall. There are elements of great artistic direction--which is often neglected in many pot related movies, and their are numerous political metaphors. I mean seriously, how often is "Marxism" and the Communist Manifesto brought into comedies?

Many people will say this is "stupid," which seems like an oxymoron regarding a movie about weed. Indeed, there's incredible silliness and ridiculous over-the-top decisions, but that's the point of this movie(and not to mention Farris' character to begin with). Araki introduces subtle, witty imagery while simultaneously producing an enjoyable slapstick comedy.

WOW, do i love a good stoner movie! Maybe it has something to do with me loving to get high myself and being able to relate to how the main character deals with situations. There seems to be a lot of people here who have to over analyze even the simplest movies. I'm not a typical stoner. I'm actually finishing up a university education and am very successful at keeping my love for pot and my professional life separate and i know that the main character is the worst kind of cannabis user and some people here talk like this movie is an anti drug movie because of how irresponsible she is and how she ends up and bla bla bla, but it's a comedy and there's nothing wrong with being a bit over the top and i find it perfectly cool that they actually show that there can be consequences to being an idiot. You have to be a real dummass if you think that smoking pot will make you do or become like the main character in this movie. Anyway, me and my friends are a bit disappointed with the marks this movie got here because we just spent the whole movie laughing ourselves to tears and i think Anna Faris was perfect for this role.

Now this, fellow stoner users, is a great stoner movie. Anna Faris, better known as the innocent Cindy Campbell from the Scary Movies franchise, plays Jane, who gets real stoned and has lots of important stuff to do.

The plot sounded nice from the beginning, but I wasn't expecting it to be so artistic. It's more of an adventure film rather than a comedy. It's something like... stoner adventure. Anyway, lots of funny moments here, great to watch when you yourself are stoned. Has an unexpected ending and oh, those situations... Haven't we all been there?

Plus, good soundtrack. Watch it with your friends.

This movie is now in one of my top five stoner movies. For people who don't smoke, I don't think it's the right experience for you. I watched this movie quite baked, and it was hilarious. I seriously laughed out loud many times, only because of Anna Faris. She was probably the best element of the movie.Her acting was priceless, seriously, she looked so freaking baked for the entire movie it was so hilarious to see! Very good jokes and overall very funny movie! But for the plot, it's for sure not the most epic and complex tale of the history... It's actually very omnipresent but not really important. The actress is entertaining enough to make you watch the entire film. Potheads give it a shot while you smoke a bit, it's a great fun but I don't see non-smokers really enjoying the experience. I, of course, watched the movie high and another time sober, and I can confirm a good buzz helps get you into the movie, into the character. It's worth a solid 7 out of 10!

This movie is notable for perpetuating a collection of tired marijuana myths often found in any garden variety anti-drug pamphlet. The most egregious being that the drug is capable of transforming people into simpletons and paranoid head cases barely capable of dumb grunts. And therein lies much of the premise for this shtick-fest. Gone are the humor, intelligence, wit, and charm found in recent cult hits like Superbad or Harold Kumar. Instead, we're left with Faris' galling portrayal of a drawling caricature, replete with her perpetually unfixed gaze and the script's frequent reliance on gags that center on the character's short attention span. Add the inexplicable fits of mania and paranoia exhibited by Jane and you've got all the trappings of a very mediocre and forgettable carnival ride. Despite all of its over-the-top buffoonery, cheap antics, and Faris' ridiculous pantomime, "Smiley Face" is very short on laughs. A few interesting cameos do manage to conjure up a few quick chuckles, but any comic momentum is quickly lost. All this and an impromptu recitation of Marx for just the price of 90 minutes that you won't get back. Worst of all, the movie ends with a finger-wagging moral: a denouement that assaults what little intelligence you'll have retained after a single viewing. "Smiley Face" is a mindless observation of vapid stupidity and a waste in more ways than one.

Ever since Cheech and Chong invented the stoner comedy, the genre has pushed boundaries in mind numbing uselessness, and Smiley Face may represent a new low (or high) for the format. It's certainly bold for it's blatant refusal to inject any substance to it's narrative, it simply follows a single character bumbling around with a glazed look on her face and any plot development is totally random and ridiculous.

Since it's essentially one long stoned monologue, it rests completely on the shoulders of Anna Farris to carry the film, and may possibly be a crowning achievement in the actress' career. She remains endearingly likeable throughout her dopey ramblings, and occasionally lands a good punch line. She's masterful at awkward comedy, and there's a low key brilliance to some of the more absurd musings, like when she contemplates framing a picture of president Garfield as a tribute to her love of lasagne. Things fall flat when she plays things more over the top, like the uncomfortable 3 minutes when she yells about communism at a meat packing plant.

As is often the case, the film is hit and miss with it's depiction of the effects of marijuana. There are a couple moments that accurately showcase the derailed train of thought of the baked mind, but just as many that try to pass off an unbelievable level of childish idiocy as normal pothead behaviour.

Show up under the influence and expect very little, and this inane little flick may just put a smile on your face.

As the title states, i watched the whole film from start to finish and i just don't get it.

Why bother to even make this film as it had absolutely no point to it.

The film revolves around our main character (Faris) who smokes pot, gets high, 60 minutes of daydream scenes where she has no idea whats going and then the film ends. Well that about sums it up in my belief.

I have never watched a film that was so totally pointless and if someone could please let me know if i'm being totally naive then feel free.

I did not really want to write this as someone will read this now and think i must watch this film to see but please please don't waste your time.

I completely disagree with many of these bad reviews. My personal opinion: if you smoke, definitely see this movie. But not while you're stoned--it will make you paranoid about everything! If you have never smoked pot, or are against it, don't even bother. Honestly, the whole movie is kind of like an inside joke. If you don't get high or haven't gotten high, you won't think it's entertaining, and you probably won't get it. But this is precisely what I love about this movie: it probably portrays being high more accurately than any other stoner movie I have ever seen. I didn't like the ending and it did confuse me a bit as to what message it was trying to get across, but as for the rest of the movie, I thought it was genius. The thought process was incredibly accurate, the physical effects, everything. Being a smoker myself, the whole movie was incredibly stressful, and I understood exactly what the main character felt. So all in all, my recommendation is this: if you smoke, go see it. If you don't, you're not going to like it.

First of all this movie is more like an anti-drug campaign. The girl smokes some pot, eats cupcakes and destroys her life by doing it. The influences of cannabis in the movie are totally unreal. The director probably did this piece of crap movie to make fun of pot smokers but he forgot to do some research. The whole movie looks like those stupid 70s anti-marijuana ads on TV, its only brainwash for the kids. He has to smoke first in order to have an idea about the influences of cannabis. Anyway this movie sucks and all the people who likes films based on potheads (half baked , Harold&Kumar , Cheech&Chong etc.) should stay away from this one and wish that this stupid director never gets another budget for another crappy movie like this one. peace!

Anna Faris is, in my opinion, the funniest young comedic actress out there today. In "Smiley Face", she is extremely entertaining (and completely unconcerned about vanity) as Jane, the much-too-stoned pothead. I just love her (and I'm not even gay)!

The story has me scratching my head a little bit. I can't decide if it's just some mindless, silly stoner movie (which works for me!), or, as another reviewer put it, some sort of 70's anti-marijuana training film. Maybe it's a little of both...? I dunno.

Story aside, I think the acting and direction are superb, very colorful, and quite hilarious! It's worth a viewing, if only for the reason that you're in the mood for something completely different. You'll definitely have something to ponder...and many scenes to remember fondly and laugh about!

Anna Faris is the best female comedienne Hollywood has going. Why don't they cast her in a good romantic comedy (a hard genre to pull off) or a comedy with sharp writing?

No matter what part she plays, there's a sexy intelligence to her that's rare. And, she goes full throttle into a role, no matter how silly it is; this girl is fearless.

In Smiley Face, she plays a stoned girl whom gets into one wrong situation after another because she's stoned. I've known a lot of stoners -- Faris' clueless expressions are spot on. Unlike lesser actors who overdo the stoner drawl, etc, Faris doesn't try too hard. She hits every note perfectly.

But is the film good? The writing is uneven -- mostly bland, but it has some witty moments. The Regan-bit was funny. It's definitely a fun little cult movie, because of Faris' performance.

It isn't the high quality film Faris' talents deserve. The best film I've seen her in so far, in terms of writing and letting her natural intelligence cut loose, is Waiting -- and even then, she was underused.

Maybe Hollywood will get wise and get this girl a part with good writing and first class directing. Smiley Face could have been an awful film -- un-watchable. Faris makes it fun. So many times in films it seems anyone could play certain parts because the writing is so dull; here, the writing is mostly unremarkable, but Faris gives it life. It's hard to imagine any other actress of her generation being able to carve a decent movie from so little.

Excellent movie, made me laughed all the way. Describes exactly what one would expect to be a 8 hours marijuana trip, with its fails and victories, laughs and fears, ups and downs.

Though the plot is absolutely gripping, my biggest surprise was the flawless acting of Anna Faris, who seemed to be very into the part, having pot-like behaviors and looking like a real pothead. Giving the movie the essence it needed.

I would recommend anyone, either smokers or non-smokers, to give 'smiley face' a try as it is just plain fun to watch and an awesome journey to wherever the wind blows.

To be honest I suffered through this one. I even enjoy this genre of film, and I have to say this one was uninspired and slow going. I know, a stoner flick, so I shouldn't expect a lot... But I wouldn't put my worst enemy through this hour and a half of pure torture. The story was uninteresting and went all over the place, it couldn't even hold my attention. I found myself playing tic tac toe against myself (yeah, that boring). On the other hand though, the actors did a great job in their roles, all talented young people, whom I enjoy watching. However, the story was awful, just couldn't get past it. From beginning to end, it was bad bad bad. Save yourself the misery and skip this one.

Jane is a regular pot user who today has to fit an audition and paying her electricity bill into her usual routine of getting high. Seems easy enough but when the temptation is too great to eat her flat mates cupcake's she quickly discovers they are made with a huge amount of weed. Unbelievably high, Jane believes she can pay off her dealer, remake the cupcakes, get the audition and make it in time to pay the electricity bill. Of course she believes that – she is high.

Someone gushed about this film at me in general terms so I added it to the list to see without knowing much about it other than it was quirky and funny. The plot is pretty straightforward and it could be from any stoner movie since it involves one odd scenario after another, all of which are made odder and harder by Jane's mental state. The film starts with a lot of energy and imagination and it is engaging for the first 30 minutes or so. After this period though the novelty value of the presentation does wear off a little bit and it starts to get a little stale; the plotting doesn't really matter but it keeps moving along. The laughs are key and they are also hit and miss. The tone of the film is a bit more "stable" than the wilder and OTT nonsense of other stoner films but the downside of this is that the wilder OTT laughs are absent. There are plenty to be had but mostly the film is "amusing" rather than hilarious. It looks good though and the fact that the delivery "feels" a bit smarter than it actually is did make me be patient with it and relax into it a bit more than I would generally with the genre.

A big part of it is down to Faris, who is really good in this. OK it is not the hardest most complex character to play, but her comic timing is bang on and she really gets the delivery right for the material. She is by far the driving heart of the film. In support are lots of faces you'll recognise which is an odd thing but it doesn't distract too much and everyone works pretty well; Krasinski, Cho, Trejo, Browne, Lynch and a cute (but otherwise pointless) appearance by Natashia Williams. For those reading the cast list while considering watching, please don't be put off by Carrot Top – he is a walk on (and more importantly "walk off") appearance.

Overall Smiley Face is a cute entry in the stoner genre. It is imaginative and quite funny for the majority and it is done with a lot of harmless charm. Of course it isn't really enough of any one thing to be as good as it could have been, but it is still pretty amusing and engaging – thanks in a big part to a pitch perfect performance from Faris in the lead.

Saw it when it came out at Blockbuster, I wasn't impressed the first time around, found a copy just a while back and watched it again, it was pretty funny with the inside jokes and innuendo and general silliness, and if you've ever been too baked on edibles you just know how bad it can be trying to accomplish things Her misadventures and innocence are a trip, she was annoying and cute at the same time, good for a rainy Sunday afternoon in.

I'm not a pothead, but I like drug comedies like Grandma's Boy, & Half Baked and thought this would be another goofy pot movie....wow what a piece of crap.

I don't think I even smirked once at this movie. I like Anna Faris, Danny Masterson, Adam Brody but the movie was just a waste of film and talent. I mean if it was trying to tell people to not do drugs, good luck with that if they get the audiences' attention quick enough, which it won't. Personally, I don't even think potheads will find this funny at all.

I don't know what the director or writers were thinking but, please no more pathetic movies like this.

I'm not a pothead, and I don't watch pothead movies. So a story about a girl who gets stoned, and then gets even more stoned wouldn't normally grab me. But film festivals put you in a situation where you watch movies that wouldn't normally interest you. Usually, that's a disaster, but in the case of "Smiley Face," I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised.

"Smiley Face" gives us one of the most lovable protagonists I've ever seen in a movie. Jane (Ana Faris) is high the entire movie, even in flashbacks, and thus is happy and childlike just about every time we see her (except when she's paranoid). Most movie characters would breeze through the minor conflicts Jane has to face, but her pot-induced mental disability turns cooking butter into a nearly impossible task. And that's part of what makes her so endearing.

I don't get it either, how many people here didn't like the movie.

I guess it just confirms my theory, that the worse a movie is rated, the better I find it.

THe acting was great. I laughed almost the entire movie. Maybe the people that didn't understand it, should eat some cannabis and then see what happens.

To say it is boring is complete nonsense. Just because there are no explosions, 3000000 dead people or stupid jokes like in Half Baked (which by the way is really boring) doesn't mean a film is bad. The timing and synchronization (?) of the pictures and musical/sound effects, the cuts and the atmosphere are very well presented in my opinion. And there's a lot of effort with different camera shots. (A great scene is when Jane comese out of the bath when brevins adoration is explained and Jane/Anna seems to move with the music beat.)

Just to give a little to think: the dealer with his "perfect" look talking about Reagonomics, the audition, the people on the bus (somehow the small boy reminds me of certain people, if you know what I mean), the guy at the laundry shop,the communist manifest and what happens when she throws it away... Think about it a bit, maybe (probably not, as all hope is lost) you will see the light.

I really liked this movie! Going in, I was excited to see what shenanigans went on, and what I really took away as the premise of this movie was "stoner paranoia but the thing you're paranoid about HAPPENS EACH TIME." Hoo boy. It was hilarious and a little painful to watch at times, but I enjoyed the antics and cast a lot.

I don't think Smiley Face has a deep message, and is more a chill, goofy flick to enjoy with friends or as background noise. That being said, I do think this is one with some re-watch potential. Maybe I just have a soft-spot for goofy stoner movies, but overall I thought Smiley Face was fun, funny, and not a bad way to kill some time.