Sure, it's mushy, but you can't make a movie called Smile and not be at least a wee bit saccharine about your intentions.
Comment
08/26/05
Smile (2005)
15 %
Reviews Counted: 13 Fresh: 2 Rotten:11 Average Rating: 4/10
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Synopsis: Exploring the differences in growing up halfway across the world, SMILE is a wholesome and positive look at two divergent cultures and the experiences of young adults in those worlds. In California, Katie (Mika Boorem) is born into a world of wealth and privilege, growing up in a society where... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Jeffrey Kramer, Sean Astin, Mika Boorem, Beau Bridges, Linda Hamilton
Reviews
1 - 13 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
However worthy the sentiment, this one won't leave viewers with a smile.
08/26/05
This drama, which was bankrolled by the people behind the international Operation Smile program, has the best of intentions. But it's so painfully earnest that it becomes insufferable.
08/05/05
Feels like a school project that has its heart in the right place if not the skills to produce something with depth and emotional heft.
07/26/05
Kramer may have felt that American audiences would have wanted to follow an American heroine, but it’s Lin’s story that resonates.
06/23/05
Despite terrific China locales and some capable castmembers (notably Wang), the flick gets bogged down by Jeffrey Kramer's strained scriptwriting and unrestrained direction.
04/22/05
This movie's so filled with admirable intentions that they practically spill onto the screen before it starts.
04/21/05
There's little doubt that a nonfiction film would have been more powerful than this strained drama, which offers a Malibu brat as the audience's point of identification.
04/08/05
Top Critic
Overall, it's pretty elementary stuff, along the lines of a Disney Channel TV movie.
04/08/05
Well-meaning but dramatically lopsided tearjerker bogs down in generic teen angst and domestic squabbling.
04/07/05
Top Critic
Smile is like a dose of cod liver oil: It may be good for you, but it's no fun.
04/07/05
Top Critic1 - 13 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
IGN RSS Feeds