The eighth film I've chosen to feature on this blog is 2007's SMILEY FACE directed by one of my favorite modern directors Gregg Araki. It would best be described as a series of misadventures of a day in the life of a stoner.
The shining stoner star of this picture is the immensely talented Anna Faris. She rarely stumbles (except when immersed in character) in her portrayal of Jane. Her dedication is clear from the start and it's hard not to believe that she ate a batch of pot cupcakes. Anna's performance brings many laughs and you root for her to make it through this day in one piece.
Did I mention this movie is super trippy? Well, it is. The animated credits sort of remind me of the opening for Freeway. 
After foolishly eating her roommate's cupcakes, she devises a seemingly simple plan to fix the problem. She'll cook even better cupcakes. Jane's view of the world is ultra-idealistic. She thinks she can do anything while she's high and if this brief shot of her fantasy is any indication, she's delusional.
Of course, being a failure, Jane doesn't finish the better cupcakes and barely makes it to her audition. Jane currently is an actress, but she explains that she majored in economics. Like most things in her life, however, economics didn't really work out. It's easy to assume that drugs led her down this path, but Jane just seems not to care much about anything except pot. She has a chronic apathy that is perhaps more deadly than a drug habit.
Jane meanders through her day haphazardly and the film never really falters for me. Dylan Haggerty's screenplay is funny, clever, and very true to the mind of a pothead. I particularly love her inner monologue about the analogy between cheese and President Garfield.
One other area of the film that deserves special recognition is definitely the sound design. It's perhaps the most effective thing in the film. The heightened sense of sound is alarmingly palpable throughout and it is used in highly creative ways.
"Have you ever....I mean, do you even....well, do you?! You tell your people that!"
Faris is really a marvel in this film. Sometimes you think she's going to take it a step too far and become a total ham. She never does and she always keeps Jane earnest in spite of Jane's flaws. Jane is never meant for love or great success. She is an isolated soul with bright fantastical ideas of what her life could be. She's too unmotivated to ever make this fantasy even close to a reality though.
CARROT TOP! Seriously though. This film has maybe one of the more impressive rosters of cameos. I mean, you have your Carrot Top, that's a given. Then Araki throws in Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, John Krakinski, and Adam Brody to name a few. It's too much fun.
The film's closing is an odd one, but ultimately a realistic outcome for the wayward pothead who makes trouble everywhere she goes. As always, Araki gives the eyes plenty of pretty things and cool colors to look at, but he creates a fun-spirited and lively film at the same time. I whole heartedly recommend Smiley Face. It's a lot of fun and it's Anna Faris at her best.
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