DVD Reviews: Smiley Face, Delirious & Never Back Down

Posted in DVDs, Film, Reviews
By Sam Bathe on 1 Sep 2008

Smiley Face

Starring Anna Faris as young actress and eternal pothead Jane, Smiley Face follows her adventures through the day after she eats her flatmates cupcakes. First going on the search for ingredients including one all-important special item, Jane encounters more mishaps than you’d consider possible as the plot draws to a rambling conclusion.

With Adam Brody and John Krasinski also lending their talents to the film, you might expect Smiley Face to at least offer a handful of acting talent, but even the familiar names do nothing to save the movie. The story takes 90 minutes to move no where at all and as the closing credits draw in, you’ll struggle to recall what happened before.

The special features do little to save the experience.

Film 1/5 Extras 2/5

Delirious

After a chance meeting outside the house of popstar K’Harma, paparazzi Les Galantine takes promising young, and homeless, wannabe actor Toby under his wing. Tagging along as Les tricks his way onto the red carpet of star studded events, Toby brushes shoulders with K’Harma once more and the pair start to fall for each other. But as Toby starts to leave his mentor behind, Les grows jealous and starts to plot revenge.

Surprisingly heart-warming and witty throughout, Delirious out performs any preconceptions you might have of this cannon fodder low budget comedy drama. Delirious won’t win any awards for groundbreaking film making, but if you’ve an afternoon to spare, you can do far worse than director Tom DiCillo’s latest feature.

The spoof music video on the bonus features is funny, but far below the required volume of extras.

Film 3/5 Extras 1/5

Never Back Down

When troubled teen Jake rocks up at his new school, bully, and cool-kid, Ryan lures the freshman to a pool party and invites to join an underground fighting league. Keeping to his newfound good will, he turns the offer down, but only serves to rattle Ryan, started a feud between the pair that no-one can resolve.

While the action scenes provide undeniable excitement, the performance of the lead role when out of the boxing mitts, and a story that tails off into pure indulgences ruins a promising teen film.

An extended version and some handy extra features make the film that little bit more enjoyable.

Film 2/5 Extras 3/5

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