Smiley Face

I completely disagree with many of these bad reviews. My personal opinion: if you smoke, definitely see this movie. But not while you're stoned--it will make you paranoid about everything! If you have never smoked pot, or are against it, don't even bother. Honestly, the whole movie is kind of like an inside joke. If you don't get high or haven't gotten high, you won't think it's entertaining, and you probably won't get it. But this is precisely what I love about this movie: it probably portrays being high more accurately than any other stoner movie I have ever seen. I didn't like the ending and it did confuse me a bit as to what message it was trying to get across, but as for the rest of the movie, I thought it was genius. The thought process was incredibly accurate, the physical effects, everything. Being a smoker myself, the whole movie was incredibly stressful, and I understood exactly what the main character felt. So all in all, my recommendation is this: if you smoke, go see it. If you don't, you're not going to like it.

I've read a lot of angry comments about this movie, claiming it's "bashing" on "stoners" and anti-pot propaganda. This is not the case. If you're familiar with Araki's directing and themes in creating movies, it would be easy to recognize this as a satire. Obviously things of this extreme nature don't happen to people who smoke pot, but I like my comedies to have an entertaining plot. This movie would be horrible if all the protagonist did was lay around high in her home.

Unlike most "stoner movies," this one stands out as being one of the most original ones I can recall. There are elements of great artistic direction--which is often neglected in many pot related movies, and their are numerous political metaphors. I mean seriously, how often is "Marxism" and the Communist Manifesto brought into comedies?

Many people will say this is "stupid," which seems like an oxymoron regarding a movie about weed. Indeed, there's incredible silliness and ridiculous over-the-top decisions, but that's the point of this movie(and not to mention Farris' character to begin with). Araki introduces subtle, witty imagery while simultaneously producing an enjoyable slapstick comedy.

WOW, do i love a good stoner movie! Maybe it has something to do with me loving to get high myself and being able to relate to how the main character deals with situations. There seems to be a lot of people here who have to over analyze even the simplest movies. I'm not a typical stoner. I'm actually finishing up a university education and am very successful at keeping my love for pot and my professional life separate and i know that the main character is the worst kind of cannabis user and some people here talk like this movie is an anti drug movie because of how irresponsible she is and how she ends up and bla bla bla, but it's a comedy and there's nothing wrong with being a bit over the top and i find it perfectly cool that they actually show that there can be consequences to being an idiot. You have to be a real dummass if you think that smoking pot will make you do or become like the main character in this movie. Anyway, me and my friends are a bit disappointed with the marks this movie got here because we just spent the whole movie laughing ourselves to tears and i think Anna Faris was perfect for this role.

Have to be honest here, I just didn't get PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. As with most David Gordon Green fare, I found it dull, unrealistic, melodramatic, and poorly acted. It just didn't make sense to me. I would have left after the first 15 minutes, but I went with a friend who I thought was enjoying it, and I didn't want to ruin it for him... until after the two-and-a-half hours of nonsense and we both found out we felt the same exact way. Not funny, not interesting, nothing new or original. And if I WERE stoned while watching it, I probably would've been even more bored. No wonder Rogen wrote this when he was 19. That's exactly what it seemed like. SUPERBAD was at least moderately interesting and had a fair story, if not a unique one, with some likable and engaging characters.

THAT all said, I was equally baffled by the poor reception to SMILEY FACE. Though the one came out some time after the other, SMILEY FACE impressed the hell out of me. I found it honest, sincere, very funny, and surprisingly well acted. There are some true moments that Araki captures exactly what it is to be stoned, wandering around LA and trying to figure out what's happening. Some of the inner-monologue of Faris is absolute genius: at once funny and truthful, particularly an entire exegesis on whether or not a "Garfield" poster would make sense being put up in the protagonist's house... all this after merely peering at a picture of corn.

The music is great, the editing and directing style are both spot-on (think a more stripped- down TRAINSPOTTING), and even though very little happens overall, I was never bored, because the screenplay continually throws interesting moments into the mix, making even something as simple as Faris trying to drive out of her parking garage or waiting at the dentist VERY engaging and laugh-out-loud funny.

Definitely Gregg Araki's best movie to date, and Faris', as well. Surprisingly creative and one of the few portrayals of stoners I've seen in far too long (hey, they're a culture, like any other!), I'm as confused at how few people saw SMILEY FACE as I am at why so many seemed to have seen PINEAPPLE (sans the Rogen factor, which clearly grew some crowds on its own).

Check out SMILEY FACE... if you can find it. Maybe buy on Amazon. You won't regret it.

Now this, fellow stoner users, is a great stoner movie. Anna Faris, better known as the innocent Cindy Campbell from the Scary Movies franchise, plays Jane, who gets real stoned and has lots of important stuff to do.

The plot sounded nice from the beginning, but I wasn't expecting it to be so artistic. It's more of an adventure film rather than a comedy. It's something like... stoner adventure. Anyway, lots of funny moments here, great to watch when you yourself are stoned. Has an unexpected ending and oh, those situations... Haven't we all been there?

Plus, good soundtrack. Watch it with your friends.