79
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100EmpireKim NewmanEmpireKim NewmanManaging to be cynical and heartwarming at the same time, this is an almost perfect satire on the American Institution of beauty pageants.
- 90Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesLong before David Lynch mined the seedy underbelly of small-town life for the film "Blue Velvet" and the TV series "Twin Peaks," Michael Ritchie directed Smile, one of the smartest, most-biting satires on the glossy veneer of middle-class America ever put on film. [18 Oct 1990, p.7]
- 88The Seattle TimesJohn HartlThe Seattle TimesJohn HartlSmarter and funnier than the recent theatrical release, "Drop Dead Gorgeous," Michael Ritchie's superficially similar beauty-contest satire was mostly ignored when it came out in 1975. It has since become a classic, and a high point in the careers of Bruce Dern, Annette O'Toole, Barbara Feldon, Michael Kidd and Melanie Griffith. [05 Aug 1999]
- The film feels like the midpoint of Robert Altman and Hal Ashby, and perhaps one of the reasons it’s been overlooked is that it arrived the same year as two similar masterpieces from those directors, in “Nashville” and “Shampoo,” and if this isn’t quite as flawless as those films (it’s admittedly somewhat sprawling and unfocused), it’s nevertheless worth a watch for many reasons.
- 80Time OutTime OutPerhaps a more caustic picture was intended, but the film grows to like its characters, and the final result is amusingly indulgent and generous in a way few current American films are: one has to look to East Europe (especially the work of Milos Forman) for a similar quality of ironic compassion.
- 80Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumThis 1975 satire about a “Young American Miss” beauty pageant and the middle-class mentality of small-town southern California is Michael Ritchie’s best feature, though it hasn’t won anything like the reputation it deserves.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertRitchie has so messy targets that he misses some and never quite gets back to others. But Smile does a good job of working over the hypocrisy and sexism of a typical beauty pageant.
- 70The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyIt's an especially American kind of social comedy in the way that great good humor sometimes is used to reveal unpleasant facts instead of burying them.
- 70The New YorkerPauline KaelThe New YorkerPauline KaelMichael Ritchie's direction is highly variable in quality, but he's a whiz at catching details of frazzled behaviour.