everything you have heard about this movie is true.

An absolute waste of money

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

This is one of the films that makes the loss of the film/show-specific message boards such a tragedy. There could have been so much valuable discussion. I saw someone in a review questioning whether depression could have caused her to make those decisions. She wasn't depressed. She had bipolar disorder. The fact that she was prescribed lithium and the fact that we learn from that brief visit with her father that his mother suffered from mental illness establishes that pretty clearly, even though they never say the words. It was a fabulous depiction of bipolar disorder. Usually we get almost hyperbolic examples of the disease. This was much more realistic.I think if we'd gotten a redemptive, happy ending, the film would have lost something valuable. As much as my heart broke watching her stumble out the door under the baffled, hurt gaze of her husband, I knew that was the only ending that would have made sense. I hated it and I loved it.Sarah Silverman's performance was stellar. As a fan of hers, I don't know how I missed this film when it came out, or how I hadn't heard of it before I saw it while browsing through Amazon Prime. She has a depth of performance that really exceeded expectation, for me. Even her moments of joy were heartbreaking.I think it's well worth a watch, but be prepared to feel really, really sad. Also steel yourself for a fairly violent and unexpected scene near the end. For some folks it can be jarring/triggering.

WARNING SPOILERS: As a man who despised Sarah Silverman's on screen persona since I first "met" her, I was stunned by her acting ability - and beauty - in this film. Wow. Bitch can act! I hope SS reads this and can understand I saw that her performance as junkie, sex addict (slut?), alkie, Jew, narcissist, rich-housewife-with-typical-problems could have easily fallen into any of those "ruts". Not so. IMHO she glides above all those potentially distracting clichés and personality flaws and just blows it outta the water with this portrayal of a girl, (yes, she didn't grow up completely) whom the viewer just wants to HUG and say "You're trying' your best, it'll be okay", as her screen hubby does so many times. His part was so well-written - except, if he forgave and loved so thoroughly and repeatedly, why the hell would he give up on her after her genuine repeated attempts at redemption? I have never read (or written) reviews with spoilers, but this picture left me no choice. Brava, SS, you have earned my respect as an actress. Thanks go out to the crew, too; I realize it's not just a one (wo)man-show, and the production was great. Totally believable and immersive - I did not even need to willingly suspend disbelief, haha. I know people like this! Thanks.

The underbelly of the suburban lifestyle is a common theme in cinema. The genre is called suburban Gothic. "American Beauty" is probably the most famous example; others include "The Ice Storm" and "The Oranges" are others. "I Smile Back" takes a different approach to the subject. In a markedly different role from her usual acts, Sarah Silverman plays an upper-middle-class wife whose seemingly perfect existence hides her struggles with mental illness and drug usage.Silverman's unglamorous performance creates a true-to-life despondent character. With this role she shows herself to be a versatile actress. And let me tell you, it's a gritty role. Her character is one of the most self-destructive ever put on screen. Good support comes from the other cast members, but this is definitely Silverman's movie. When I first learned of her from her comedy acts, I never would've imagined her playing a serious role, but she does a great job at it. I highly recommend the movie.

The film is about a small family of two little kids and their parents, but all the focus was on the mother who is a drug addict and struggling with mental illness, yet care a lot for her children. But how long this happy family stays that way is the film going to reveal in its entire narration.Based on the book of the same name, half a million budget film, has a decent cast who have given their best for it. This is not a film you watch to enjoy, but a film about the families around us. This is a depiction of the real world story, like not all the families are happier as we see them from the outside. There are some secrets in them, which sets a bad example for their own children once they come to know the true nature of their parents. But some would decide to fight hard to make everything come back to the normal and some won't. That is where film derives, how it all ends makes this film unique from the other similar ones.I think this film was decent with an important topic. Not everyone would end up happy with their watch, because the story won't end up as they thought. The novel was written by a woman, so this is a woman's perspective tale and quite neatly told story. Not a bad direction or the screenplay, surprising the production quality was too good. Seems it is a quite family type film for involving kids, certainly the theme was very strong, so definitely for adults only. It is neither worth nor a waste of time, only if you come across to it and has no other choice, you can give it try.6.5/10