"Smile" is five stories in one. It's important to note that this is not a true story. Rather, the credits claim that it's like 80,000 other stories. Some characters are based on real people, others are composites. That's OK. Many books and movies are created thus. I can understand and applaud the purpose of the charitable organization that is doing such good work around the world. And, I can understand how this effort is something that Chicken Soup for the Soul would want to sponsor. But, unfortunately, this film fails on many accounts. To start with, I have problems with some of the values that seem to be accepted by the producers. I suspect that many other viewers may also find such problems. Finally, those of us who follow news around the world will see glaring inconsistencies with what the film shows and the realities in China.
The first story is about a spoiled, self-centered teenage girl from a very well-to-do family in California. Another is of a man in China who finds an abandoned newborn girl with a cleft palate and takes her into his family to raise her. The third story is about a worldwide charitable organization, Operation Smile, which helps treat facial deformities of children. The fourth story is about a volunteer program for high school students to serve the group in foreign countries. The fifth story is about the redemption of the spoiled teenager and her friendship with the Chinese girl and her father.
The portrayal of the heroine and her family may be spot on. While she is a seemingly nice girl, in truth she's a spoiled only- child and a very self-centered brat. Her parents are no better and round out a very dysfunctional family. One can sense that they each came from a single- child family themselves, where they were used to getting their own way. They never learned to share or to truly care for siblings or others growing up themselves. Just look at these people. They fly off the handle at the least little word they don't like from the other – especially the mother and daughter. That this mom and dad would tolerate the back-talk and yelling of this girl isn't anything I can imagine in any of my family or among friends – and that's a lot of people and families.
The modern media and public agenda to the contrary, I don't think most parents today would talk about their daughter using birth control pills and "protecting" herself or being responsible with sex. These parents seem to have a cavalier attitude about sex and their daughter's experiencing it. I don't know any dad, or mom, who would have such an attitude about their daughter. The interest in my widespread circles is one of teaching, and explaining and encouraging teens to wait for the right person in marriage.
The next story has a Chinese man finding an abandoned newborn with the cleft palate. This man would have to be a living saint, except for what we see later on. The date for his discovery would be in the late 1980s. China has had a one-child policy since 1978. The Chinese father already had a wife and a son. It would indeed be an extreme act of heroic love to take in an abandoned baby girl. There is no mention of his reporting the baby, so how is it that the family continued for several years without detection? Then, the man's wife leaves with their son because of the man's favoring attention to the girl. The man surely is an exception. Under the one-child policy, many girls are aborted because the Chinese all want sons who will care for parents in old age. So, how could this man let his own son leave him? Again, this much of a contrived story for China just doesn't ring as likely or possible.
Too many other aspects of this film are just not believable. The American girl who can't speak or read Chinese, takes off on her own to travel a long way and find a specific tenement home in some distant place? The Chinese man teaching himself and his daughter English, with no other English speakers to learn from?
The story of the charitable group is heartwarming, but there is very little of it. Except for the one nurse, there was so little interaction with or involvement of medical people in the hospital. There's just way too much in this movie that isn't plausible. So much so that it really detracts from the film.
In summary, my low rating is mostly because of the very implausible plot, a weak script, and only fair acting at best. The idea and the cause it relates to are very good. There have been a number of very good movies in the past decade or so about redemption of young people. But, "Smile" is more of a frown and flop.
The first story is about a spoiled, self-centered teenage girl from a very well-to-do family in California. Another is of a man in China who finds an abandoned newborn girl with a cleft palate and takes her into his family to raise her. The third story is about a worldwide charitable organization, Operation Smile, which helps treat facial deformities of children. The fourth story is about a volunteer program for high school students to serve the group in foreign countries. The fifth story is about the redemption of the spoiled teenager and her friendship with the Chinese girl and her father.
The portrayal of the heroine and her family may be spot on. While she is a seemingly nice girl, in truth she's a spoiled only- child and a very self-centered brat. Her parents are no better and round out a very dysfunctional family. One can sense that they each came from a single- child family themselves, where they were used to getting their own way. They never learned to share or to truly care for siblings or others growing up themselves. Just look at these people. They fly off the handle at the least little word they don't like from the other – especially the mother and daughter. That this mom and dad would tolerate the back-talk and yelling of this girl isn't anything I can imagine in any of my family or among friends – and that's a lot of people and families.
The modern media and public agenda to the contrary, I don't think most parents today would talk about their daughter using birth control pills and "protecting" herself or being responsible with sex. These parents seem to have a cavalier attitude about sex and their daughter's experiencing it. I don't know any dad, or mom, who would have such an attitude about their daughter. The interest in my widespread circles is one of teaching, and explaining and encouraging teens to wait for the right person in marriage.
The next story has a Chinese man finding an abandoned newborn with the cleft palate. This man would have to be a living saint, except for what we see later on. The date for his discovery would be in the late 1980s. China has had a one-child policy since 1978. The Chinese father already had a wife and a son. It would indeed be an extreme act of heroic love to take in an abandoned baby girl. There is no mention of his reporting the baby, so how is it that the family continued for several years without detection? Then, the man's wife leaves with their son because of the man's favoring attention to the girl. The man surely is an exception. Under the one-child policy, many girls are aborted because the Chinese all want sons who will care for parents in old age. So, how could this man let his own son leave him? Again, this much of a contrived story for China just doesn't ring as likely or possible.
Too many other aspects of this film are just not believable. The American girl who can't speak or read Chinese, takes off on her own to travel a long way and find a specific tenement home in some distant place? The Chinese man teaching himself and his daughter English, with no other English speakers to learn from?
The story of the charitable group is heartwarming, but there is very little of it. Except for the one nurse, there was so little interaction with or involvement of medical people in the hospital. There's just way too much in this movie that isn't plausible. So much so that it really detracts from the film.
In summary, my low rating is mostly because of the very implausible plot, a weak script, and only fair acting at best. The idea and the cause it relates to are very good. There have been a number of very good movies in the past decade or so about redemption of young people. But, "Smile" is more of a frown and flop.