Customer Reviews

Smile

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the underrated films from the golden age of American filmmaking, this wonderful story holds up very well some 30 years later. It's far more than just a satiric look at teen beauty pageants & the culture that surrounds them (although it skewers them sharply & perceptively) -- it's also a fiercely revealing look at the illusions of the American Dream. The writing is pointed & intelligent, and the cast is superb!

Let me call special attention to Bruce Dern's portrayal of Big Bob Freelander. It would have been all too easy to make Big Bob nothing more than a walking joke & an object of condescending mockery. But the man has more depth than that, even though he himself refuses to see it. Big Bob genuinely believes in the cliches & positive aphorisms he spouts, and does his best to live by them. Yet despite his own desire to believe that the life he has chosen does have value & meaning, the empty truth of it is beginning to force itself upon him. His best friend is already drinking too much & cracking up because he can't stomach their world any longer; Big Bob sees it all falling apart & does his best to hold it together, even as it slips through his fingers.

Note, for example, Joan Prather's interview by the judges. As one of the more honest contestants, she's thrown by some of the questions, which obviously demand pre-packaged & "wholesome" answers. She doesn't quite know how to "play the game." Big Bob jumps right in to help her out, both out of genuine compassion for her & out of his desire to preserve the illusions of his own life. As Big Bob's crumbling friend Andy notes, Big Bob is the ultimate Young American Miss himself ... and Big Bob doesn't deny it. He desperately wants his world to be just that clearly defined & ideal & perfect.

Towards the end, there's a poignant & telling scene. Three Marines serve as flag-bearers for the pageant, and Big Bob goes over to make small talk with them, having served in their same division years ago. He makes mention of seeing combat in Korea, only to be ignored as they compare notes on the breasts of the various contestants. One look at Big Bob's sad & haunted face tells you everything about what he's lost & still searching to find.

Yes, it's a very funny film. The "talent" segments are howlingly bad & pathetic, all the more so with their undercurrent of melancholy. The plastic patriotism & hollow boosterism is laughingly tacky. But there's much more going on in this film, which is still quite relevent. Highly recommended!

"Smile" (1975) is a comedic gem and easily one of the best unknown films of the '70's. An incisive satire set at a California beauty pageant, director Michael Ritchie's film offers a chance to see Bruce Dern in a rare "straight" role, Barbara Feldon playing a character worlds away from her famous Agent 99 from "Get Smart" and legendary choreographer Michael Kidd in a hilarious supporting turn as (what else?) a lecherous, alcoholic beauty pageant choreographer. Add Melanie Griffith, Annette O'Toole and Joan Prather in early roles and a hysterical supporting turn by Maria O'Brien (Edmund's daughter) and you have a top cast making the most out of Jerry Belson's incisive script.

Dern plays "Big Bob" Freelander, the head judge at the California State Young American Miss Pageant and Feldon is the pageant director whose motto to the contestants is to "keep smiling." Of course, this being a satire, Ritchie and Belson mercilessly lampoon everything in their path, making Feldon an unhappily married harridan whose husband hates her, Dern a father who is concerned that his horny son "Little Bob" (Eric Shea) and his hornier friends are obsessed with seeing the contestants naked (just like his father and the other men involved) and the contestants are, for the most part, back-stabbing primadonnas who will resort to anything to win. And then there's Kidd's choreographer, who shows up late and drunk and spends most of his time bedding the contestants, when he's not insulting their rather pathetic talents. (One of my favorite bits: Miss Imperial Valley's "talent" is packing a suitcase.) But the highlight of the film is O'Brien as the sole Mexican-American contestant, who spends the entire time trying to bribe the judges with "a favorite dish from my home country, guacomole dip." She is a riot and, along with Kidd, the primary reasons to see the film.

One of the great things about "Smile" is the ending. It is absolutely impossible to guess who will win the final competition. And the reactions of everyone involved are true and real, thanks to Belson's terrific and unpredictable script and Ritchie's top-notch directing. In fact, Ritchie followed this film with a cinematic home run, 1976's "The Bad News Bears." These two films alone sealed the late director's reputation as a master satirist.

In all, "Smile" may very well be the best film you've never heard of. And let's be thankful that MGM/UA released the DVD in 1:85:1 widescreen, which they don't always do. The extras are thin, but the film more than makes up for it, especially at such a low price. In all, this one is a real winner. ***** (out of *****)

This is one of the great American films of the 1970s, a time when US writers and directors were prepared to raise questions through metaphor, about 'the state of the nation' (in 1974). At Academy Awards time 'Smile' should have been nominated for direction, screenplay, and acting, and the fact that it was ignored is revealing....Unlike the Hollywood pap of today, there are no CGI effects, easy 'uplifting' messages, 'inspirational' storylines with banal music to stop you thinking ('Seabiscuit' is a an example of the 'feelgood' type of movie to which I am referring). If you like this kind of movie, then the ambiguities of 'Smile' are probably not for you ! For there are no simple messages here....but if you cherish ambiguity, irony, and satire you will love this movie as much as I do. Although it has its darker side, it is no inflated 'Nashville' of 'American Beauty' either, and unlike these movies 'Smile' is generally light and entertaining. 'Smile' is scripted and directed with great precision, skilfully blending documentary elements of a real life beauty pageant and the folks of Santa Rosa, CA who paid to attend as members of the audience, with the fictional narrative. Each character, even minor ones, takes on a symbolic role: the janitor, the MD, the choreographer (the wonderful Michael Kidd), the hospital psychiatrist, the contest MC...and Bruce Dern who is outstanding in this movie.
A satire yes, but by the end, a satire with heart. I have seen this film many times, and am always noticing new details that I missed before, especially in the background action. 'Smile'
is also devilishly entertaining, and, all the contestants are great, especially Joan Prather as 'Miss Antelope Valley', and Melanie Griffith has never been better.....PLEASE MGM, can I buy this soon on DVD ? (my VHS is worn out !)

I found the story a bit ponderous, but there were two things I thought worked really well in this movie.

First, though there was a lot of thinly veiled contempt for beauty pageants, I thought the girls themselves were treated sympathetically. I really liked the scenes of Annette O'Toole and her roommate getting dressed and discussing various win strategies. These were teenagers, some innocent, some mercenary, going after a goal handed to them by adults. It made the adults look like the ones who should have known better.

Second, I've always loved those '70s minidresses. The mini's revival this decade has never reached the, well, "heights" of minis in the mid-70s. It's hilarious to see girls in those tiny dresses wearing dainty white gloves. Although the short hems would seem to demand numerous peeks at girls' underwear, the film manages to show some restraint. One peculiar touch is the way that each day's events begins with a close-up of the embroidered day-of-the-week on Annette O'Toole's panties.

This was one of Melanie Griffith's first movies, but don't get it for that reason -- it's more of an Annette O'Toole movie.

"Smile" is one of the most underappreciated comic satires of modern films. This dead-on look at the emptiness of small town existence is priceless. With biting humor and WONDERFUL performances by Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon, Michael Kidd, Nicholas Pryor, Joan Prather and Annette O'Toole, "Smile" is a glowing example of brilliant filmmaking. With sharp, insightful direction by Michael Ritchie, "Smile" offers a hilarious look into the lives of townfolks trying to fill an empty void with the staging of a small town beauty pageant. The scene with O'Toole during the "talent" portion of the pageant is classic!

I saw this movie at a theater when it first came out. There wasn't much advance publicity on this picture so I wasn't expecting much. This is an hilarious movie and it was still funny when I went back a couple of nights later to see it again. It's the story of a local beauty pageant in California(?). What makes this movie work is the wonderful way that different subplots, personalities, and sketches intermingle. There are the townspeople, the promoters, the overly curious adolescent boys of the town, and, of course, the contestants. Everything seems to work out alright in the end and we all have a good time getting there.

I've thought about this movie a lot in recent years and especially when our community hosts the Miss North Dakota pageant. I've looked for it in video stores but never found it. It's nice to know it's available on the internet. It just might be the best modern American film that nobody's ever heard of.

Definitely an unsung film. Bruce Dern plays an RV dealer(Big Bob Freelander) who is also a judge in the Miss Teen USA pageant which comes to his town. Brilliant comedy about the whole pageant scene. From the opening credits(over which Nat King Cole sings "Smile") this film has you. Dern's trophy shop working buddy(played perfectly by Nichoals Pryor) is fed up with small town life and wants to bail out. It is he who begins to criticize the pageant and all the other small town social crap. Very funny through and through. Flawless cinematography by the one and only Conrad Hall. Spread the word on this one, it's another dangling classic waiting to find it's spotlight.

Yes, as most of the earlier reviewers have stated, this is a brilliant and underappreciated film.

At first glance, this film appears to be just a satire of beauty pageants and the mentality that created and perpetuates them. And it definitely has satirical moments. But what makes the film remarkable is the way manages to be hard-edged satire while finding the humanity in its characters. And it does this without ever turning sentimental, though it does come close once or twice. What keeps it in balance is that even the most sympathetic characters have moments where just a little bit of selfishness comes through, while even the least sympathetic characters emerge with just enough humanity to keep them from becoming caricatures. Even though we cringe as the girls rehearse for the talent portion of the pageant, we cringe even more at the cruelty of the musical director mocking them. Nothing in this film is ever as simple or obvious as you might expect.

Director Michael Ritchie gives the film an almost documentarylike, cinema verité feel, thanks to the camera work and the performances, which are extraordinary. Bruce Dern has probably never been better. Joan Prather, as the contestant whose story we follow most closely, gives a wondrous, luminous but never sappy performance. Michael Kidd as the director-choreographer hired to stage the pageant, provides the perfect blend of cynicism and underlying integrity. And Barbara Feldon, Annette O'Toole, Nicholas Pryor, Eric Shea, Titos Vandis, and many others provide perfect support.

This film is one of Hollywood's great comedies, on a level with or at least near the best of Preston Sturges and Billy Wilder. And higher praise I cannot give.

"Smile" is a gentle satire of the beauty pageant scene as well as more generally the 1970s California lifestyle. Released in 1975, the film was not a hit but has gathered a bit of a cult following. Barbara Feldon and Bruce Dern star as the organizers of the California Young American Miss contest. The story follows the behind-the-scenes shenanigans leading up to the final pageant. Sprained ankles, exploding batons, and dead chickens are just part of the fun!

The script by Jay Belson ("Fun with Dick and Jane") is great fun -- ranging from subtle poking of its targets to broad farce. A number of targets are skewered facilely aside from beauty contests, particularly the superificial California lifestyle where making money and looking good is paramount. It's a clever movie, although not every scene is designed to be laugh-out-loud funny.

Director Michael Ritchie definitely peaked with this film, as he would later direct such bombs as "The Island" and "The Golden Child." Although "Smile" is a somewhat obscure movie, the genial humor of the film makes it most worthy of greater attention. In particular, people who have enjoyed the satirical movies of Christopher Guest ("Waiting for Guffman," "Best In Show") are likely to appreciate "Smile." Overall, a solid 1970s film that will make you laugh and smile.

DVD Extras: Consist only of an original trailer. Fortunately, the DVD transfer and sound are quite good.

Bruce Dern was often cast as a bad guy; after all he was the guy who killed John Wayne (in the Cowboys, I believe). In this movie he takes on a completely different role, which really showcases his talent and makes you realize that the man is not just great at bad-guy roles, but is an outstanding actor. This a wonderful satire on the shallowness of beauty pageants and what they are REALLY all about. It is also very entertaining throughout; much more so than a real beauty pageant! The casting is absolutely outstanding with all the characters being so believable. Nice music too with Nat King Cole singing the title song. The movie has everything including a nice dose of comedy, plenty of drama and a message. It's as near perfect as a movie can be. Not disappointing on any level. Entertaining throughout without being a piece of fluff that so many movies are. Some nudity, so be warned about that, but it is essential to the plot, unlike some movies where it is unnecessary. Dern should have gotten an oscar for his role in this movie, but it probably didn't score high enough on the "politically correct" meter.