Let's be realistic.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Outwardly, Laney (Sarah Silverman) has a nice life as a suburban wife to Bruce Brooks (Josh Charles), and mother to Eli and Janey. In private, she's a mess. She's depressed, and prescribed medication. She's also snorting drugs, and cheating with acquaintance Donny (Thomas Sadoski). She finally breaks down and Bruce brings her to rehab. Dr. Page (Terry Kinney) uncovers her anxiety about her abandonment by her father. She's afraid her son Eli is showing similar signs. She tracks down her father (Chris Sarandon). She finds herself breaking down again.Sarah Silverman pulls out a wider range of dramatic acting. Josh Charles provides a nice complementary performance. This is an unflinching portrait of the ups and downs of Laney's journey. It's a tough character study. Silverman is able to embody the role and command the screen. The best portion has Laney worried about Eli. This is Silverman expanding her abilities and possibilities.

I came into watching 'I Smile Back' having recently come out of a relationship with a woman suffering from severe depression, both having younger children from previous relationships. I was aware of her depression right from the start and it wasn't an issue as it never manifested, up until the last 5-6 months that is. For the 85 minutes this film played, it was like I was watching my life played out by Josh Charles and my partners by Sarah Silverman. Almost perfectly Adam Salky's adaptation of Amy Koppelman's semi-biographical novel highlights and encapsulates the rigors and devastation depression can have on someone's life and the loved ones around them.As the film goes on and you are rooting for Silverman's character to get it together, get healthy, and be happy; the most common questions that keep reoccurring (as in my own experience) are how much is depression to blame for the erratic behavior, the self-destruction, the poor life choices, the hurting of others? Where does the depression end and the person begin? What should be forgiven and what cannot be? Coming from a position of clear bias and sympathy for the husband, I 100% related to being in that position that he is doing everything he can to help her, he clearly loves her and wants his family to be happy together. Often, love and good intentions are not enough in these scenarios, and decisions need to be made about whether to keep fighting in the hope things get better or to let it go so it doesn't destroy everyone. 'I Smile Back' really balances these questions so there's no clear right answers.I was a little wary initially of Sarah Silverman being in the title role. Even with her previous serious roles I still felt that in your face, over-the-top personality wanting to burst out. Not in this. She nails it, and really makes you feel every emotional high and low. Unlucky not to be recognized by the Academy this year.My only criticism is something which I rarely ever say about movies, is that I wish it was longer. I think the affect and anxiety that his mother's depression had on the eldest boy needed to be explored even more. We only get a very surface level of symptoms and afflictions of the child, and it would have been fascinating to get more on what affect it was having in his and his sister's life. I would have also liked a little more of a POV perspective of the husband and how he handled everything.Overall, a very realistic and relatable projection of a debilitating and devastating condition.

Sarah Silverman had absolutely no business pulling off the performance she did. I Smile Back follows the story of a tenderly distressed mother who can't seem to fully absorb her childhood troubles. Its astonishing to think of Gena Rowlands' character in John Cassettes' A Women Under the Influence in the same category as this. However, I am bewildered as to why the rating is significantly low on this film. Although there could have been a little more context behind Laney's past, Silverman dealt with what she got and delivered in a way that no one was prepared for. The academy would be inane to omit her of an Oscar nomination.

I am a 28 year old male, and this movie touched on a lot of issues I have struggled with in depression, mostly drugs and continuing to be destructive regardless of how much pain it causes. I teared up many times in the movie, Sarah was excellent. If you are looking for a happy movie, this is not it, and if you didn't care about the characters in the movie you obviously have little to no sympathy for people struggling with clinical depression. This was a very realistic observation of how one finds it extremely hard to see through life's struggles, and how some people are just never see the light at the end of the tunnel.