It's hard to know how to review this film other than to say I enjoyed it. It is beautifully shot, well acted, atmospheric and, for everyone who was once a boy growing up, painfully nostalgic. There is not really a lot of plot to speak of and at the end of the movie I was left wondering what it was all about. I guess it's just about boys being boys becoming men and, along the way, dealing with life, its tragedies, disappointments, puzzles, mysteries and the friends and family that are on the journey with you. That doesn't sound like anything too startling, but it still makes for a captivating movie here.
Hide Your Smiling Faces
2013
Action / Drama
Hide Your Smiling Faces
2013
Action / Drama
Keywords: friendship
Plot summary
After a neighborhood tragedy, two adolescent brothers confront changing relationships, the mystery of nature, and their own mortality. Hide Your Smiling Faces is an atmospheric exploration of rural American life through the often distorted lens of youth.
Uploaded by: OTTO
Director
Top cast
Movie Reviews
Moody and atmospheric.
It has shades of "Stand by me" about it...
Nathan Vernon ("Eric") and Ryan Jones ("Tommy") offer really engaging performances in this story of two brothers who have to come to terms with the death of one of their friends. It's largely told by way of the pair wandering about in the woods, swimming, and generally hanging out together asking and avoiding questions. Though older by a few years, "Eric" is not much better equipped than his younger sibling to handle the aftermath of this event and much of the narrative - the dialogue is sometimes quite poignant, but usually sparing - is more about the visuals than anything else. To be honest, I felt slightly voyeuristic - imposing myself on their grief, and their intimacy - I was neither invited nor welcome, and that made this pretty awkward at times for me to watch. The pace (or lack of it) also grates after a while. Certainly the film itself is honest to their scenario - but that doesn't necessarily make for a good piece of cinema. It has a charm about it, and I'd recommend you watch - but to be fair, not a great deal actually happens.
Great story line...
This movie has a great story line and should have been one that endured the ages to be watched many times over. Regretfully, the movie was produced and directed in a manner not befitting the story. It was long, drawn out, unconnected, and without any dialogue. I have no idea what the producers and directors could have been thinking to have spent so much money, time, and effort in making this movie and fail to provide the viewer a worthy of this wonderful story. The acting of the boys, when they did speak, was good. The long, silent scenes of the boys doing nothing but begin together and romping around left us bored and UN-engaged. Very sad waste of time.