Pink Asparagus

7/10

That would be totally meta. People would be all like: Jane, why do you have a picture of President Garfield on your mantle? And I’d be like: Because I like lasagne, of course.   

Gregg Araki’s Smiley Face is a woman led stoner comedy that follows protagonist Jane as she navigates an overwhelming high and an unrealistic to-do list. Along the way, a stoned Faris must deal with a lineup of terrible men, all of whom objectify her even in scenarios where she is sleeping on the sofa, or just being super zoned out. The movie really highlights how much of an annoyance men are when all you’re trying to do is be a stoned woman, complete your to-do list and get yourself from one destination to the next. If any of this sounds relatable to you, you’ll love watching this. 

Economics didn’t really work out. 

Araki highlights Jane’s confusion, frustration and disenchantment, both in the moment and generally with life, through frequent close up shots of Anna Faris’ hilarious expressions. Smiley Face is both the woman led stoner comedy of our dreams and a fair depiction of what it feels like to be young and floundering post college. Behind Jane’s inability to navigate simple tasks while high, is her inability to navigate  life in “the real world” — a place so much more financially unstable and so much less thought provoking than we ever expected. Smiley Face is a relatable and vindicating experiential depiction of being high and… needing to live.   

SPOILER BELOW! What you need to know about the ending…

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Smiley Face ends on a sad note: Jane is arrested. Jane’s central mission throughout the movie is to replenish her roommates cupcakes, pay down her debt to her weed dealer and make it home to hit another bowl. She asks her roommate’s creepy friend, Brevin, for help with this, but how much help could he really be? Brevin was a loser who would sexualize Jane while she was sitting or sleeping or eating… As expected, Brevin gets her arrested, and in the movie’s final scene we see Jane in an orange jumpsuit collecting garbage off the side of the freeway. The ending does drive home my favorite of the movie’s several noble messages: if you’re going to get high, make sure there are no boys around.