A SMILE LIKE YOURS

US, 1998, 98 minutes. Colour.
Greg Kinnear, Lauren Holly, Christopher McDonald?.
Directed by Ken Campis.

A Smile Like Yours is a film about pregnancy. It has a bright premise, has attractive central characters – but the film was not a success and the box office. Many mothers complained that the film was unrealistic and that some of the characters were rather irritating.

Perhaps, in retrospect, the film is more entertaining than was first thought.

Greg Kinnear, who had been introduced in Sabrina and continued in such films as Dear God and As Good As It Gets, is an architect who is wary about having a child. Lauren Holly is the wife who is enthusiastic about conceiving. She pressurises her husband into all kinds of interviews, tests, procedures. The supporting characters include the best friend, Joan Cusack as the wife’s best friend, Christopher McDonald? as a business executive.

There are some tangles – an attractive architect who tries to seduce Greg Kinnear but fails. He then becomes suspicious of his wife with an executive who wants to buy the perfume that she originated with her best friend.

Needless to say, all’s well that ends well.

1. A romantic comedy? Husband and wife? Family issues? Pregnancy and children?

2. The American city, the atmosphere? Workplaces, building sites? Perfumes and shops? Architects’ offices? Los Angeles contrasting with Seattle? The musical score?

3. The title, the genial comment about the child having a smiling face?

4. The situation of Danny and Jennifer, the years married, home life? The quality of their relationship, love, sexual partnership? The issue of having children? Jennifer as keen, going to the doctors, the interviews? Danny and his being wary? Persuaded to go? The tests – and the comedy with the severe nurse? The interviews with the doctors? The tests and their results? The blow to his self-esteem? The alternate possibilities? The procedures, the doctors, the nurses?

5. Danny and his character, genial man, discussions with his friend, his friend and his children? On the work site, with the workers? His meeting with Lindsay, the surprise that she was the architect? The meal with her? Her trying to seduce him? His agreement to go to Seattle? His seeing Jennifer with Richard and drawing a false conclusion? His time in Seattle, the dinner, the room, the shower, the phone call? His immediate return home, in the rain, finding out the truth? The issues of honesty between husband and wife? The reconciliation?

6. Jennifer, loving, at home, her discussions with her best friend? The advice, her friend’s stories about relationships? The scent, its quality, using it? In the shops? The encounter with Richard, his financial proposal, Jennifer and her hard line? His coming back, the board and their agreements? The better conditions, the amount of money, the royalties? Danny seeing Jennifer with Richard? Her not telling him about the money, her sense of his pride in trying to take on the extra architecture job in Seattle to get money for the tests and the procedures? Lies, her admitting the truth, the reconciliation?

7. Danny’s friend, his advice, Lindsay looking through him? Sensible? The comparisons with Jennifer’s friend, confidante, their discussions, her support? Her naivety in terms of Jennifer’s skill with negotiations with Richard?

8. The doctors, the discussions with Richard, the gynaecologist, the tests and procedures, her encouragement? Her severe nurse and her remarks – and her appearing at the restaurant when Danny was with Lindsay and his trying to avoid her?

9. Comedy routines, comedy lines? Sentiment? Audiences identifying with Danny and Jennifer and their struggles – or not?

10. Audiences and the perennial issues of pregnancy, conception, bringing up families – and the postscript to this film with triplets?