Gregg Araki is a very different director. He is a Japanese-American. Most of his films are about strong feelings and belong to queer directors (and women like "Brokeback Mountain", "Please Take You") "The Name Calls Me" and other films have a completely different tone). Films such as "Mysterious Skin" and "The End of the Road" directed by him are very famous in small circles because their content challenges taboos.
Comrade Araki (the Japanese name is more appropriate) changed the trend in 2007, directing a film "Smiley" with no basis, by "Scream" actress, Star Lord's ex-wife Anna Faris Starring, this nonsensical style absurd comedy won some praise at the time, and since then Araki has entered the mainstream to direct TV series.
This movie is almost a one-man show for Anna, which expresses her silly, startled, and exaggerated body language to the extreme. It can also be regarded as an extension of the "Scream" series! Anna used to be the face of silly white sweet among American actresses, and she was much more famous than her husband at the time. A blond little beauty has to choose a funny way regardless of her image. Female comedians need to pay much more sacrifice and courage than men.
The story is very simple. Anna plays an addict who gets up early in the morning and starts hilarious. She stole the cupcake from her roommate in the refrigerator. After she ate it all in a daze, she realized that the cake had also been added. This time, she was over the top, messing up a series of planned things. She tried desperately to remedy it, but the mess became more and more messed up. In the end, she was imprisoned with nothing, and she was still daydreaming with a numb smile, which made people wonder if she was completely fooled by drugs.
Anna's mouth was always open, whether it was giggling, panic, sluggishness or coquettishness, she was always open mouth, a little monotonous. It is true that this film is not an art film, but such a trick will not last long, and the audience will soon tire of this set. Anna can only hang out on the small screen now, and continue to "open her mouth" by filming some boring soap operas.
Araki's films are always colourful, and Smiley's tones are also very cheesy, a bit like an old-fashioned movie. Anna's red hoodie and blond hair are very bright, she was stunned from beginning to end, which made people feel tired. The supporting roles around her are more brilliant. Araki likes to find handsome young actors. Emily Bronte's husband, John Krasinski, was also recruited by him to play a fool who has a crush on Anna. When he was young, John was also a little fresh meat, but his face was a little longer. He didn't pick on the show, and he still fantasized about Anna jerking off when he was taking a bath.
In the second half of the film, Anna accidentally got the first copy of the "Communist Manifesto" and was going to exchange it for money. She also turned into a revolutionary and gave a loud speech on Marx to "Scimitar" and John Zhao in the meat union factory. The essence of socialist exploitation and being exploited! Whether it was because of her insight into the ugly nature of capitalism, she was thrown into prison by the police when she threw the "Communist Manifesto" from the Ferris wheel like a flyer and the paper floated around every supporting character in the play.
"Smiley" is a cult comedy that isn't quite on the classic level, but it's worth watching. Maybe Araki has other deep meanings, maybe we should look deeper.
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