I Smile Back

2015 • 85 minutes
3.9
237 reviews
49%
Tomatometer
R
Rating
Eligible
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About this movie

Laney is an attractive, intelligent suburban wife and devoted mother of two adorable children. She has the perfect husband who plays basketball with the kids in the driveway, a pristine house, and a shiny SUV for carting the children to their next activity. However, just beneath the façade, lie depression and disillusionment that send her careening into a secret world of reckless compulsion. Only very real danger will force her to face the painful root of her destructiveness and its crumbling effect on those she loves? At the core of I Smile Back’s power is an indelible performance by Sarah Silverman, who reinvents herself as a dramatic actress in the career-defining, intensely layered, and heartbreaking role of Laney. Deftly directed by Adam Salky (Dare, 2009 Sundance Film Festival), I Smile Back is at times darkly humorous but also harrowing and unflinching as an authentic, humanizing portrait that offers no easy resolution for a damaged woman struggling to come to terms with herself.
Rating
R

Ratings and reviews

3.9
237 reviews
Jennifer Farrell
December 31, 2015
It seems like this movie was made solely to showcase Sarah Silverman's range. It's there, she's a good actress, but don't let good acting fool you into thinking this was a good movie. The characters are completely empty and nothing of any real substance happens. I actually enjoy depressing movies but this just didn't move me in the slightest. Maybe if they'd built her character up more or even her husband's. Great acting, boring writing. Oh well.
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Amanda Tynan
December 19, 2015
I found this complete horrifying. The description made me think there were funny parts. I must have been so shocked from the awful, brutally realistically scary parts and missed them. If you're looking to see how drug use can rip your life apart, this movie is for you.
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Lola Dreadful
April 22, 2016
There is no learning done in this film - except that Laney's feelings about men are reinforced, and her husband turns out to value a shiny lifestyle over helping his wife get well. The moment in the stairwell could've been SO powerful. Sarah Silverman could've set herself for an award in *that* moment; but did not. Weighty acting with no reward.
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