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"I Smile Back"
HH
U.S. Dramatic
A fearless dramatic performance by comedian Sarah Silverman can't save director Adam Salky's repetitive housewife-in-rehab drama "I Smile Back." Silverman plays Laney, who lives with his rich insurance-salesman husband Bruce (Josh Charles) and their two kids. She also is off her lithium, drinks a lot, snorts cocaine and is having an affair with Donny (Thomas Sadoski), father of her eldest son's friend (and this is all in the first 15 minutes). Bruce soon puts Laney in rehab, but the denial and daddy issues aren't easily cured by 28 days in a facility. The script, by Paige Dylan and Amy Koppelman (based on Koppelman's novel), trudges predictably through the recovery-and-relapse cycle, with one bad behavior inevitably leading to another. Silverman, in a non-comedic role, brings more colors to Laney's plight than anything the script or Salky's dour direction provides.
- Sean P. Means
"I Smile Back" is screening in the U.S. Dramatic competition of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It screens again: Tuesday, 11:30 a.m., The MARC, Park City; Thursday, 3 p.m., Broadway Centre Cinemas 6, Salt Lake City; Friday, 3:30 p.m., Eccles Theatre, Park City; Saturday, 9 a.m., Temple Theatre, Park City.