Synopsis
Introduced to a volunteer opportunity with the Doctor's Gift Program, Katie (Mika Boorem) signs up for a trip to China, where she meets Lin (Yi Ding), a girl with whom she shares a birthday. Lin has a facial deformity that discourages her from ever showing her face, but her friendship with Katie helps her start to see life in a new way.
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Cast
- Mika BooremKatie
- Wang LuoyongDaniel
- Ding YiLin
- Beau BridgesSteven
- Linda HamiltonBridgette
- Cheri OteriLinda
- Sean AstinMr. Matthews
- Chi ShuaiCalvin
- Jonathon TrentTed
- Erik von DettenChris
Recommendations
- 63
Miami Herald
Smile feels like one man's answer to movies increasingly overloaded with sex and violence. - 60
The Hollywood Reporter
Causes don't get much worthier, and Smile is a labor of love, a portion of the film's proceeds earmarked for the humanitarian group. - 50
L.A. Weekly
If the dialectics here are strictly Hallmark, the film is lifted by some nice location work - all of the Chinese scenes are shot around Shanghai - and deepened somewhat by the bleak depiction of the emotional lives of Katie, her family and her friends. - 50
San Francisco Chronicle
Overall, it's pretty elementary stuff, along the lines of a Disney Channel TV movie. It's uplifting, and it's in a good cause. - 50
Variety
Well-meaning but dramatically lopsided tearjerker bogs down in generic teen angst and domestic squabbling. - 40
Los Angeles Times
Smile is like a dose of cod liver oil: It may be good for you, but it's no fun.