‘I Smile Back’ Trailer: Sarah Silverman Gets Raw
Here’s the first trailer forI Smile Back, which featuresSarah Silvermanin a highly-praised dramatic performance as a woman dealing with overwhelming depression. The film was on our list of fall movies to look out for; written byAmy KoppelmanandPaige Dylanand directed byAdam Salky, the film premiered at Sundance earlier this year and will play the Toronto International Film Festival before going into release in October. Check out theI Smile Backtrailer after the jump.
I can’t get over the implications of Silverman’s work in this film. We’ve seen comedians leap to drama many times before, and it’s not always easy to shelve our impressions of someone whose work we know very well in one capacity. But even this little bit of footage makes Silverman’s performance look compelling and interesting. I want to see more, regardless of the film built around that performance.
Indeed, reviews out of Sundance were all about Silverman’s work.Variety’s review is emblematic of many: “Rarely has a performer striven so concertedly to shed any trace of his/her comedy roots as Sarah Silverman does over the course of I Smile Back… Silverman’s performance is more than an attention-getting stunt, and it’s her hellish rendering of a New Jersey housewife under the influence of drugs, alcohol and mental illness that elevates director Adam Salky’s sophomore feature above the suburban-nightmare movie-of-the-week it otherwise often resembles.”
Even ifI Smile Backis the sort of Sundance drama I generally prefer to avoid, knowing it is anchored by a unique and surprising performance is enough to overcome other doubts or issues. That, in a way, marks this movie as being in a league with 2014 films likeCakeandStill Alice, where the film might not be up to the level of the central performance, but that lead actor’s work makes the film impossible to ignore.
