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SMILEY FACE
Director Gregg Araki
Produced by Steve Golin & Alix Madigan
Written by Dylan Haggerty
Director of Photography, Shawn Kim
Edited by Araki
Released by First Look
USA. 88 min. Rated R
Starring: Anna Faris, John Krasinski, Adam Brody & Danny Masterson

Smiley Face, Gregg Araki’s first film after the profound and original Mysterious Skin, is billed as a “screwball stoner comedy,” and fans of that genre won’t be disappointed. The surprise is that other viewers won’t be disappointed either. Smiley Face is exuberant, hilarious, and fun, with just enough of Araki’s trademark satire of pop culture and the kinds of characters who are likeable even when they’re ridiculous. The trippy scenes, neat effects, and vibrant colors will thrill stoned viewers, but Araki’s sophisticated plotting and humor transcends the subject matter.

Pothead actress Jane F (Anna Faris) is having a screwed up day that keeps getting worse. She steals spiked cupcakes from her scary roommate (That ‘70s Show’s Danny Masterson, playing a tightly-wound sci-fi geek) and has to rustle up the funds to repay her dealer, make it to an audition, replace the cupcakes, and come up with money to keep the electricity from being shut off. She ends up on a long, strange, all-baked adventure that leads to fleeing the cops with an original 1848 edition of The Communist Manifesto.

What elevates Smiley Face above the average druggie comedy – other than Araki’s unique vision and skill – is that it doesn’t only celebrate the fun of being high. It also explores the awfulness of being stoned, bringing Jane’s paranoia, awkwardness, and confusion to life. Anna Faris walks a fine line in her performance – she has to be a genuine mess and a joke, yet we have to care about her enough to be invested in what happens to her.

In one scene, we see Jane delivers a rousing, liberating speech to factory workers – and then Araki hits rewind, and we see what Jane really said, from an outsider’s point of view. (It is, of course, indecipherable stoner ranting.) Jane wants to change the “trajectory of her life,” but she doesn’t really know why she does what she does. The film ends on a note that’s truthful, strange, and surprising, defying the genre.

Mysterious Skin, a drama with heavy subject matter (the aftermath of childhood sexual abuse), was in my estimation one the strongest American films of the past decade. The choice to make a broad comedy on the heels of his critically-acclaimed breakthrough might seem strange, but in fact, Smiley Face is evidence that Gregg Araki is still at the top of his game. It’s as riotous as any stoner could hope for, but there’s subtlety and depth too. Elizabeth Bachner
December 21, 2007