A Smile Like Yours (1997) User Reviews (12)

Not great, but better than I expected

[PeterJackson · 6/10 · 17 June 2000]

This film is about a young couple having difficulties to conceive a baby. She(Holly)constantly surprises her unsuspecting husband(Kinnear) on the most unusual places. And each time she uses a new, self-made aphrodisiac and they have sex. However, something seems to be wrong with the man's potency. They go on and try everything they can, including a clinic with some bizarre fertility instruments.

This is the premise for a romantic comedy about fertility, having a baby and the problems that can come out of this. It doesn't really work that well on a comic level. There are some modest chuckles in it, but not really funny-funny scenes. The actors however make this pretty enjoyable and carry the film along way. Given its length(98 min), you can't blame the film to be overlong either. The best moments come out of the conversations between some of the characters. Joan Cusack has some of the better scenes in the film and Shirley MacLaine has a ( very)small(too small?) part as Holly's mother.

The makers also decided to put in some sort of affair of Kinnear's character with a beautiful colleague-architect(Hennessy), but this doesn't add much to the story. All in all this is pretty watchable and amiable stuff. There are "romantic comedies" that are far worse than this one, given the pretty silly premise. So if it's on TV and you've got nothing else to do, you might consider watching it. On the other hand, there are films that are also much better than this one. Good films about (having) babies are however very hard to find. 6/10(it doesn't really deserve the BOMB-rating of Leonard Maltin)

So sweet, it hurts

[Tito-8 · 4/10 · 29 April 1999]

The best that I can say about this film is that it was mildly amusing at times, and that it was an adequate time killer. Unfortunately, this film is also so annoying that I wanted to slap these characters around. This is the kind of film that is so sweet, it hurts your teeth. The intentions were good, I suppose, but things get awfully tiresome when the dialogue is SO nauseating. When the two leads aren't together on-screen, this really isn't bad at all, but be afraid during those frequent moments when the loving couple starts talking to one another.

nothing funny

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 16 December 2018]

In San Francisco, Danny Robertson (Greg Kinnear) and his wife Jennifer (Lauren Holly) are happily married except they disagree on having a baby. Steve Harris (Jay Thomas) is his best friend and works for him on his construction site. Lindsay Hamilton (Jill Hennessy) is the hot new architect. Jennifer runs a perfume shop with her best friend Nancy Tellen (Joan Cusack).

Nothing is truly offensive but this is terribly flat like the couple's singing. It's meant to be funny but it's just mildly annoying. Neither Kinnear nor Holly are real comedians. They could be good if the comedic material is great. That's not this movie. The material is not close to being funny. Maybe if one of them is played by a good comedian. The jokes are barely jokes even if they're performed perfectly. This has the comedic roadmap but lacks the funny bone to write the jokes. It has the structure but not the stuffing to fill it out. It doesn't help that fertility is not automatically funny and the writing has nothing funny for it.

Adorably Cheesy ***SPOILERS***

[Cookie24 · 30 November 2000]

Okay, I watched it on HBO. I knew it was going to be a little cheesy (all romances are, to a certain degree), but not this bad. The idea was good, but it just didn't flow right. The script could've been written a little better. The thing that really p***** me off with this movie was the two year skip. It goes from the candlelight dinner to the stroller that fits three. You never see the coaching she claims to do, the pregnancy or the birth. Who cares whose smile it has? And the most miscast of the whole movie was most definetly Jennifer, played by Lauren Holly. Could she be any more of a wimpy loser? She acted as if she was helpless and she cried at almost everything. If they would've had a more girl-power-like Jen, it would've been much more pleasant to watch the scenes with her.

But enough about the bad things. This movie had many strong points. The idea was very cute and likeable for anyone who loves Greg Kinnear and sweet-marriage-romances. Ladies, if you thought he was sizzling in 'As Good As It Gets', he was so hot in this movie, my TV was hot. (Or maybe it was electricity. Who knows?) He played a great husband and an even funnier patient at the clinic (with the hilarious nurse). Lindsey Hamilton was a husband stealer you could like and did it quite well. Joan Cusack cracked me up with her mortician stories. Danny's buddy was funny, especially with the story about his kids' dates. Of course, the funniest part of the whole movie was the B.J. attempt. 'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!' 'I heard this was supposed to turn you on.' Man, I was nearly falling off of my couch, laughing. And watching Greg playing with those babies at the end almost made me believe that those were his real kids. He was a natural at that.

All in all, it's a movie that builds you up for the big finish and, when the credits roll (with the cute babies on the side...awww), you're left thinking, 'THAT was the ending?' I was hoping to watch some pregnancy humour (i.e. Look Who's Talking), but I was disappointed when it abruptly ended. It's not a terrible movie. If you've got a cool 95 minutes and are looking for a cute movie to rent AFTER you get engaged (try this on your bf or gf and prepared for 'I have to get up early tomorrow.'), this is it. If not, just rent 'My Best Friend's Wedding'.

7/10

Dumb. (minor spoilers)

[vertigo_14 · 1/10 · 19 July 2004]

'A Smile LIke Yours' is a pathetic comedy that actually makes no sense. I don't mean that the story was complicated, but the entire plot is based on one thing: a couple's desperate and expensive unsuccessful attempts to conceive children. People who tried that hard must've forgotten of the option of the adoption, to which this movie is not kind to.

Lauren Holly plays Jennifer Robertson, a complete contradiction to anything offered by the women's liberation movement, exhibiting almost no sense of independence. She is quite a boring character as the dreamy housewife with absolutey nothing else on her mind but to have kids. Like a dumb 50's romance comedy, Greg Kinnear is her submitting husband who likewise displays no personality, no independence, and from us, no interest.

They are the two most boring and often annoying characters, and they hardly make for topics of a comedy that should present itself with many mishaps, which should arise from a couple doing all they can to get pregnant. Except, they really don't do anything except go to a fertility clinic and shell out a whole lot of money to do what they could do in the privacy of their own (except for that in vitro fertilization number). The plot hardly allows for any mishaps, because well, the couple don't do anything to create any sort of bizarre situation. They just go to this clinic. So what?

The subplots are meant to test the faithfulness of the couple, a necessary moral element of the story since the couple does plan on conceiving children together. Jennifer works at a new age shop with her friend (played by Joan Cusak), and they are in the business of developing aphrodesiacs. Christopher MacDonald plays the intrested buyer and Jennifer is the promising negotiator of a pretty price for her and her friend's product. The subplot hardly offers much to keep you interested (although Joan Cusak is pretty funny in the restaraunt scene).

Danny (Kinear) is an architect, who finds an opportunity to make some extra money to cover the clinic bills, by taking on a job in Seattle, where his boss is the crass seductress (also another hopeless, helpless female character) who tries to influence Danny (as dumb as he is) to have an affair with her once things are conveniently rocky with him and his wife (for reasons I don't care to give away). Jill Hennesy is good in the role, but her character is too predictable, and too formulaic as a much needed element to create conflict for Danny. It is stupid and once again, hardly interesting.

The overall movie itself is utterly boring, and hardly funny at all (save the restaraunt scene and the airline flight). The plot offers nothing that is really attention-grabbing. Even if the story was entirely about two people trying to conceive, the writers could've figured out several hilarious mishaps to develop out of that. Second, the main characters are completely boring. They are complete silouhettes of dumb 1950s comedies with happy wife and clueless husband. So, even without mishaps present in the plot, the characters themselves offer nothing interesting, let alone funny.

Joan Cusak should've been in the lead and someone else should've taken Kinnear's part. Cusak would've made even a lousy story outrageously funny (as she sometimes does in her co-starring role here). This is definitely one to pass up.

You Will Smile Only When You Turn Off This Rubbish........

[rbrb · 3/10 · 28 August 2006]

This is meant to be a comedy but mainly bad taste, and nothing remotely causing a smile in the film. The movie is about a couple trying for a child, and those people in real life who are in that situation will wince at the depictions that are portrayed. For instance scenes at a fertility clinic are not in the least funny and are quite frankly embarrassing. The male lead who plays a construction worker and in his hard hat comes across as a poor excuse for a reject from Village People. The female lead is trying to look 20 years younger than she is. Both leads come across as unappealing,unattractive and completely unconvincing. There are various ridiculous and totally unassuming gratuitous scenes in the film, for example with a budget airline, which is devoid of any humor. The only reason I give this 3/10 instead of 1/10 is one mark for Shirley Maclaine, who is a a class above anything else in the pic, and one mark for some half decent(albeit old) music.

The two good looking leads make the film very likable

[inkblot11 · 7/10 · 9 February 2005]

Danny (Greg Kinnear), an engineer, is happily married to Jennifer (Lauren Holly). Jennifer owns a specialty gift shop and designs perfume, on the side, to sell at her store. The one thing the couple longs for is a child but, so far, they can't conceive. This is in spite of the many planned trysts that Jennifer arranges for the couple almost every week. Finally, Danny agrees to see an infertility specialist, which hurts his pride, and on top of that, the new female boss at work is after him! Will the couple be able stay together and have the family they long for? This slight but very sweet picture is fueled by the power of the two leads. They are good looking, charming, and funny. Joan Cusack does her usual wonderful work as Jennifer's dear friend, and Shirley MacLaine makes the most of her small role as Jennifer's mother. The scenes at the infertility clinic are priceless, as Danny tangles with one very determined nurse. Those who gravitate naturally to the romantic comedy aisle will find this one very fulfilling. All others, by contrast, may find it superfluous.

Fun

[aboutagirly · 8/10 · 30 May 2011]

I thought the film was really funny and thought provoking. As my husband and I are going through the same sort of problems it made it light relief and took the seriousness out of it all. We were laughing out loud at the lengths she want to to get the first sample but possibly it was just nervousness. My husband thought the nurse would be enough to put anyone off giving a sperm sample!! It was on the same sort of lines as Maybe Baby written by Ben Elton although this is not as explicit. I thought the way it showed how committed you need to be to go through fertility investigations was well presented and just how they could push a couple apart. I suppose the moral of the story is that there is hope out there for everyone, just keep on trying!

Coulda shoulda woulda but didn't

[chicklet-2 · 1 April 2000]

This movie could have been so funny... really. It had a good premise, a couple trying to get pregnant, half of that couple is Greg Kinnear... how could it go wrong?? Well, for starters it was two hours long. The story-line was barely strong enough to sustain an hour and a half but no they had to torture us with an extra half hour most of which was owned by an endless musical montage right in the middle of the movie. Secondly, the casting. Greg Kinnear was strong and appealing despite the thin plot. Jay Mohr was alright as Jay Mohr goes. Joan Cusak was delightful, as she always is. Jill Hennessy was stunningly beautiful and just about the only actor to put any depth into her character at all. The glaring problem was Lauren Holly. She was just awful, and contrasted with the performance of Jill Hennessy, who, despite her shameless pursuit of a married man you actually begin to root for, Holly pales in comparison I found myself wondering why they hadn't cast Hennessy in Holly's role and vice versa. The movie would have been so much more easy to bear.

What a laugh

[victorianewlands · 10/10 · 12 July 2004]

I thought the film was really funny and thought provoking. As my husband and I are going through the same sort of problems it made it light relief and took the seriousness out of it all. We were laughing out loud at the lengths she want to to get the first sample but possibly it was just nervousness. My husband thought the nurse would be enough to put anyone off giving a sperm sample!! It was on the same sort of lines as Maybe Baby written by Ben Elton although this is not as explicit. I thought the way it showed how committed you need to be to go through fertility investigations was well presented and just how they could push a couple apart. I suppose the moral of the story is that there is hope out there for everyone, just keep on trying!

Not even the actors can conceive a few laughs

[[e-mail] · 17 April 2004]

Smile Like Yours, A (1997) Stillborn, awkwardly conceived comedy about a couple who cannot conceive a baby; Greg Kinnear is this building engineer and Lauren Holly designs perfumes, and many of their trips to the fertility clinic prove fruitless. A SMILE LIKE YOURS has cheap, sometimes embarrassing jokes, and clichéd complications and easy sitcom solutions. One of the cliched complications involves Jill Hennessy as Kinnear's co-worker who's attracted to him, and lures him to a hotel room during Holly's and his separation. It also tries too hard to be funny, delightful, and charming, that it fails being any of them. GRADE: D

A Smile Like Yours Review (Spoiler Alert)

[jhwentworth · 9 August 2011]

Despite Greg Kinnear's comment that "…this is the worst movie I've ever done" I found this movie to be heartwarming and charming. It's about a young couple dealing with sexual issues when they are having problems trying to conceive. Adding to the complications are the wife's (Lauren Holly) dishonesty about her growing business and the husband's (Greg Kinnear) new client whose 'get her own way' attitude drives a wedge between the couple. Along the way their pals (Jay Thomas & Joan Cusack) offer the couple some friendly advice about life and love. Costarring Jill Hennessy & Christopher McDonald as the client and businessman.

As much as I liked the movie, I was disappointed when I bought the soundtrack. I was looking for the song "Rain" by Tracie Spencer featured when Danny and Lindsay are in the hotel room together and she is seducing him. It's raining outside and the lyrics went like this, "Let the rain come down (Someday)..." It's not featured on the soundtrack nor any of her studio released compact discs. This song is the highlight of the movie and impossible to find.