Smile

This film is noteworthy: beautiful cinematography, super performance by many of the Chinese actors, and a great message. Some of the scenes seem a little unrealistic, but the movie compels me to charitable action -- that and great cinematography make for a worthwhile film.

The film creates an interesting comparison between a 17-year-old girl, Katie, from affluent L.A., and her counterpart, Lin, a girl of exactly the same age, from rural China. Their friendship will hopefully lead other young people to travel, to give of themselves and to form their own cross-cultural relationships.

I enjoyed listening to Director Jeffrey Kramer's notes, which give a whole new set of insights into several aspects of the film. First, being filmed in rural China, the film captures innumerable authentic elements of the culture, which Kramer points out. Second, Kramer talks about the many intercultural, interpersonal relationships going on behind the scenes in this film. Finally, as Kramer mentions more than once, the movie touches interestingly on the one-child policy in China and how it affects families.

Some of the performances, especially on the Malibu side, seem a bit of a stretch from reality. However, on the Shanghai side, the performance by the actors playing Lin and her family are superb. Despite some of the aspects of the screenplay which seem to stretch realism, overall the intercultural aspects, cinematography and charitable cause make this one worth watching -- and being changed by.

SMILE is one of those Op-Ed moments on CNN that can be told with poignant dignity in 10 - 15 minutes and make a significant impact. The trouble with SMILE, the motion picture, is that it stretches this idea into 107 padded minutes, incorporating far more sitcom TV dialog about wealthy families with strident children looking for ways to escape uninspiring parental role models with teenage sex life and outside causes. It takes so long for this movie to get going that it loses the viewer.

The strong elements lie in the concept of the parallel of two girls born on the same day, one to the wealthy Malibu family with everything but concord, an the other left as an unwanted deserted orphan because of a facial deformity, salvaged by a caring worker who raises her as his own. The stories run parallel through the teen years when the Western girl seeks meaning to life by joining a humanitarian medical group whose efforts are directed toward offering the Eastern girl a chance at a normal appearance. The comparison of the lives of the two girls and their disparate families is tender and meaningful and that alone is worth the effort to tell this tale.

The actors are very good for the most part - Sean Astin in his most mature role to date, Mika Boorem as the Western girl and Yi Ding as the Eastern girl, and Beau Bridges and Luoyong Wang as the apposing fathers, Linda Hamilton as a rather tiresome mother, and some good young actors in supporting parts. The cinematography in China is very lovely but there is little tie in with the California counterpart. Jeffrey Kramer directs with less hold on pacing than on commitment to a worthwhile tale begging for brevity. Grady Harp

"Smile" is an independent film from 2005 about an American girl and a Chinese girl born on the same day. Kate (Mika Boorem) lives the good life as a typical Southern California good-lookin' blond whereas Lin (Yi Ding) was discarded like trash as an infant by her parents because of a facial deformity. Thankfully, a man rescues the girl and sacrifices all to see to it that she has a quality life (Luoyong Wang). The two girls meet when Kate decides to take part in a program encouraged by her teacher Mr. Matthews (Sean Astin). The story's a cumulative creation based on thousands of true stories, including one of an American teen and Chinese teen. A picture of the two is featured at the end.

The cinematography, locations, score/soundtrack, etc. are professional-level filmmaking and there are a few big names in the cast, like Linda Hamilton and Beau Bridges as Kate's parents, not to mention Astin. Although this is one of those tear-jerking inspirational dramas, it's also a coming-of-age flick. To be expected, the story goes back-and-forth between Kate and Lin. The latter's life is quite sad, except for her adoptive father, while the former's life plays out like the usual teenage-babe-in-high-school yarn. I don't mean that in a bad way because Kate's (melo)drama helps hook the viewer into the story and is one of the film's strengths. Another positive is that the filmmakers don't try to play your heart-strings too early. The whole story is a build-up to the revelation at the end and, I have to confess, it brought tears to both my wife and me.

Unfortunately, you can tell that this is a low-budget movie in regards to the weak acting in several scenes. When a movie has the funds the filmmakers will take several shots of the same scene until they get it just right; and they'll kick axx if they have to in order to get the best out of the actors. Here you can tell that they set up scenes and shot them very quickly with the attitude of "That's good enough." Why? Because time is money and they didn't have the money to take all day to shoot one or two scenes, so they got the best they could on their limited budget. Another negative is that the story is too by-the-numbers. You're watching a scene and it feels like actors following the contrived words of a script rather than what they would do or say in real life, which ruins the movie's illusion of reality. If you can ignore these flaws, however, this is a worthwhile inspirational drama. Being shot in China, it gives Westerners a good spotlight into the lives of common people in that country.

The film runs 107 minutes and was shot in Malibu, California, and Jingxi & Shanghai, China.

GRADE: B-

A rising star. Mika Boreem displays a mature acting ability that really shines through, especially toward the end of the movie. We'll see her in the future at the Academy Awards. The interaction between Mika, Linda Hamilton and Beau Bridges is good, but not very "life-like". Like I said the plot's cheesy. However, showing the different lives of the two girls is excellent. The "teenage sex issues" are decent enough for younger viewers and of course Hollywood throws in a couple of "donkey" words to thrill those who have a need to hear some cussing, although it is very minor. Linda's (Beauty) acting is superb and Sean Astin plays a believable part and does a good job as well. Jonathon Trent is also one to watch for. The cinematography is very good and the film has just enough good stuff to put it on a "one to see" list.

I get one for me and one for my wife which I usually don't watch. This one I did and was pleasantly surprised. As mentioned elsewhere the shots of China were as intriguing as those of Malibu. They're all quite revealing, details of life at both locations that I didn't expect. But the real surprise was the lead, Mika Boorem, who I don't recall having seen anywhere before. I've never seen anyone play 'innocent' and naive as boldly as this girl. What's also surprising is that her Chinese counterparts also come across as unusually devoid of negative traits with one exception.

Anyway, this is the true story of someone needing an operation and how she eventually got it thanks to a teenager from Malibu. Not my usual idea of a fun movie, but I was engaged throughout. Not quite sure what did it, but if you're a guy looking to impress a charitable girl, this movie is a good bet.