Smiley Face

In 2004, Gregg Araki, the indie director who's a key figure in New Queer Cinema, seemed on the verge of crossover success following the critical accolades heaped on his exquisite character study, Mysterious Skin. What's he been doing since then? Getting high, apparently. Araki's latest is a mild stoner comedy about Jane, a wannabe-actress whose wake-and-bake lifestyle makes her day's to-do list quite a challenge. And that's before she gobbles a dozen "special cupcakes." Now on the trip of a lifetime, the addled slacker has got to scurry around town to scrounge up money to pay back her dealer before he repos her furniture. Complications and munchies ensue. The underrated Anna Faris (the Scary Movie franchise) is hilarious as Jane, and her blissed-out rambling monologues, and delayed-reaction comic timing, raise plenty of laughs. But the script is so thin, and the excellent supporting cast are given so little to do, that the movie loses its fizz long before the credits roll. John Krasinski is a blank as one of Jane's long-suffering friends, showing none of the twinkle he brings to The Office; and John Cho is here with nothing to do or a single funny line to utter, as if Araki resents him for starring in the much funnier Harold and Kumar Go to White Palace. With only Faris's mugging to save the day, you should light up before pressing play.