59
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83The PlaylistKatie WalshThe PlaylistKatie WalshSilverman is completely riveting as she tries and flails to do right, and her physical performance is remarkable: a change in her gait or expression signals the switch in her personality from human to addict.
- 75Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversSilverman, digging so deep into her character that we can feel her nerve endings, is like nothing we've seen before. She's fierce and unerring. No showing off; she just is. This is acting of the highest caliber.
- 70VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasWhat propels the film forcefully along is Silverman, who pulls us down so deeply inside Laney’s sickness that everything else seems to fade away (much as it does in the character’s own life).
- 70Village VoiceStephanie ZacharekVillage VoiceStephanie ZacharekSilverman has taken serious, or at least semi-serious, roles before, but she's never had a part that demanded so much of her. She has been open about her own battles with depression, but what makes her turn here work is that it isn't nakedly expressive.
- 67Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyEntertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyIt’s 85 minutes of grim abyss-gazing with no hope of salvation. If Silverman’s going to bare her soul this nakedly, she deserves a better film to do it in.
- 60The GuardianJordan HoffmanThe GuardianJordan HoffmanThis is a case of good acting saving a movie from its own poor choices.
- 60Time OutJoshua RothkopfTime OutJoshua RothkopfBased on Amy Koppelman’s 2008 novel, I Smile Back can’t shake its slightly tired structural similarities to other drug dramas, and there’s an obvious imbalance between Silverman’s mighty commitment and the movie around her.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyDespite a number of trenchant scenes and some startling depictions of sexual degradation, the film has little that's particularly original or enlightening to say about living with a chemical, genetic or emotional imbalance, making its primary function as a showcase for the lead actress to stretch her range.