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Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Smile isn't a film that's likely to please many action movie watchers. Some may not have the patience needed to understand its fine intentions. It's actually a film with much to say - being essentially an introduction to the World Wide Doctors Gift fund. The beginning of the movie sets the scene perfectly - a kindly shanghai worker, perfectly played by Luoyong Wang ('Bruce Lee Story'93) finds an abandoned new born baby girl and takes her home to selflessly give the child a better chance for a decent life. This causes friction between his wife an son.On the same day in California USA another baby girl is born into the family of a Doctor and his wife. The parallel story that unfolds in the US tends to wander into story details that detract from the main theme - slowing the movie unnecessarily. Katie, the California girl who's very well played by Mika Boorem, has all she could want materialistically but she's not generally given to care for anyone other than herself. Enter one of her school teachers Mr Matthews, played by the interesting Sean Astin ('Lord Of The Rings' 1-2-3.). During the last school year Mr Mathews was involved in taking students to China to voluntarily participate in the medical charity group 'Operation Smile'. He's now attempting to recruit a new group to return this year. This eventually brings the two same-day-born girls together. Unfortunately, first time feature writer/director Jeffrey Krammer tends to gloss over some of the more important details - while other padded situations seem to receive a little more attention than they deserve. The movie would have played better being at least 20min shorter.A recipient of the prestigious American Cinematographers Award: Director of photography, Edward Pei (Panther '95) gives the film a truly striking visual treatment. For one reason or another the movie tends to offer far more believable performances during the Chinese sequences than the states. An interesting sequence has the Chinese 'dad' and adopted daughter out watching a Roy Rogers film projected at an outdoor mall! complete with loving shots of the 35mm (no less) projectors. What makes this unusual is that a scene like this takes a good deal of setting up, especially in the days of video projection. Seems Dale and Roy Rogers set up a grant/fund to keep family entertainment alive - hats off to them both! The wives don't shape-up all that well in this story, with Katie's mum the lovely Linda Hamilton (Dante's Peak '97) seeming to fly off the handle too easily and Danial's wife played by Jia Song showing no feelings for the little deformed orphan. While 'Smile' may have flaws, the only story to seriously consider is the 'Operation Smile' program's ability to bring people of other lands together in care, also offering the all important potential for personal growth. An understanding of one of life's most vital aspects--the ability to care for others as you would have them care for you-- Those looking for an examination of life-changing situations could enjoy this most.

This movie is almost an infomercial for the organization of medical professionals who donate their time on periodic good will visits to poor countries to surgically repair babies and young children born with severe facial and mouth deformities.Mika Boorem, who was actually a teenager, plays a character not unlike what she played in 'Blue Crush'. A head-strong teen who always wants to get her way, and doesn't have much empathy for the troubles of others. Here she is Malibu teen Katie who has convinced her mother that it is time to start taking the pill, she thinks she is ready for an intimate relationship with her boyfriend.Half-way across the world in China, born the same day as Katie, is Yi Ding as Lin. She was born with severe facial deformities and was left in a hay field by the parents only to be discovered and raised by a man who wasn't her real dad. Lin grew up ashamed of her face, kept it covered, and didn't socialize.At school back in Malibu is a visionary teacher, Sean Astin as Mr. Matthews. He knows that others have had great experiences by volunteering on a surgical mission trip, and his encouragement is responsible for Katie going to China. Katie learns of Lin, actually looks her up, and convinces her to go to Shanghai and get the surgery. Both teens are changed as a result of the experience.There is a nice 7-minute extra on the DVD featuring real footage of real doctors doing surgeries on real children with deformities. It is a remarkable thing they are doing that makes a remarkable change for the children.

One, I am not some employee of any production company related to this movie. Second, I have no ulterior motives in raving about the movie. I just found the story very interesting and moving, even if at times the script was a bit contrived. What we have is well-to-do teenager with her own set of problems (arguing parents, boyfriend pushing her to have sex), and then we get a glimpse of the life of a teenager who has not only cultural issues that make her life totally different, but a physical deformity that causes her a lot of hardships. Sometimes those of us who lead a more privileged life forget that for the majority of those on this planet life is not about what TV program to watch, Facebook, and what to wear on a date. This movie was more than just promoting what is a great program (Doctors Without Borders, etc.), but what it is like to be a teenager, and then realizing that one needs to grow up, then doing so.

Yes, it hits you in the face with its message long before the action even starts. Yes, the dialog is terrible. Yes, it's melodramatic. But still... wait, I can't think of anything good to say."Smile" would be great for a young, prone-to-tears teenager, but for the rest of us, the sweetness will gag you, start to finish.It's got a great message, don't get me wrong, it just runs it into the ground a bit. Again, for younger audiences, this might be necessary.Still, I'd be a frigid cow if I didn't mention that it IS moving at times, but the director/writer person would reach more audiences if she learned a bit of subtlety, and let the story tell the story.