Anna Faris is the best female comedienne Hollywood has going. Why don't they cast her in a good romantic comedy (a hard genre to pull off) or a comedy with sharp writing?
No matter what part she plays, there's a sexy intelligence to her that's rare. And, she goes full throttle into a role, no matter how silly it is; this girl is fearless.
In Smiley Face, she plays a stoned girl whom gets into one wrong situation after another because she's stoned. I've known a lot of stoners -- Faris' clueless expressions are spot on. Unlike lesser actors who overdo the stoner drawl, etc, Faris doesn't try too hard. She hits every note perfectly.
But is the film good? The writing is uneven -- mostly bland, but it has some witty moments. The Regan-bit was funny. It's definitely a fun little cult movie, because of Faris' performance.
It isn't the high quality film Faris' talents deserve. The best film I've seen her in so far, in terms of writing and letting her natural intelligence cut loose, is Waiting -- and even then, she was underused.
Maybe Hollywood will get wise and get this girl a part with good writing and first class directing. Smiley Face could have been an awful film -- un-watchable. Faris makes it fun. So many times in films it seems anyone could play certain parts because the writing is so dull; here, the writing is mostly unremarkable, but Faris gives it life. It's hard to imagine any other actress of her generation being able to carve a decent movie from so little.
