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Poster for I Smile Back

I Smile Back

Love desperately, live recklessly.

2015 · 1h 25m · R Drama
Directed by Adam Salky

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Overview

Laney is an attractive, intelligent suburban wife and devoted mother of two adorable children. She has the perfect husband who plays basketball with the kids in the driveway, a pristine house, and a shiny SUV for carting the children to their next activity. However, just beneath the façade lie depression and disillusionment that send her careening into a secret world of reckless compulsion. Only very real danger will force her to face the painful root of her destructiveness and its crumbling effect on those she loves.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
53%
Tomatometer
Rotten

Silverman delivers a knockout performance - any memories of her scatalogical stand-up act are washed away in an instant. But her intense commitment to the depths of depression belongs in a better, more focused, less derivative film.

Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail
Fresh

I Smile Back isn't a candy-coated, noble depiction of addiction and the toll it takes on families, but rather a bleak yet honest look at how regular people lose themselves, and how difficult it can be to find the way back.

Steve Tilley, Toronto Sun
Rotten

I Smile Back pummels with nastiness, then moves from one shocking event to the next without a backward glance.

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star
Rotten

Silverman's performance, while good, is by no means great, and she is not able to transcend what amounts to a little too much sweetness and light in this cinematic "Smile."

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times
Fresh

Silverman is far and away the best part of "I Smile Back," a strained entry in the Mad Housewife genre.

Ty Burr, Boston Globe

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