A smart “dumb comedy” from the often serious indie auteur Gregg Araki (The Doom Generation, Mysterious Skin), Smiley Face stars Anna Faris as Jane, an aspiring actress who loves to smoke pot. But ingesting her roommate’s marijuana-spiked cupcakes proves a little too much for her, especially when she has to see the dentist, go to an audition and deal with a cop. Anecdotal and often hilarious, the film is filled with cool cameos (John Krasinski, Jane Lynch, Marion Ross and Danny Trejo, among others) and some nifty filmmaking touches, led by lots of fuzzy point-of-view shots. But it’s Scary Movie star Faris’ film all the way, and she’s simply groovy as a female version of both Cheech and Chong.

Shelf Talk: You would think good buzz (no pun intended) and a nice send-off at the Sundance Film Festival would lead to some theatrical play, especially with Araki’s name attached to it. But no, First Look is taking Smiley Face right to DVD. Cult possibilities for the film are strong based on word-of-mouth, especially among college students and fans of such sky-high cinematic classics as Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and Half Baked. Plus, Faris has the following of Scary Movie fans.