Smile

Get ready for a hilarious (Variety) look at one of America's most beloved institutions: the beauty pageant! OscarÂ(r) nominees* Bruce Dern and Melanie Griffith wind their way throughpageant hell in this twisted exposition of Americana that deserves a high place among successful film spoofs (Cue)! The bleached-blonde town of Santa Rosa, California, is very excited aboutits annual Young American Miss Pageant. Chief judge Big Bob Freelander (Dern) promises his town a good contest. But the battling bombshells are growing ruthless in their quest for the crown! Can Big Bob make sure that his bevy of Beauties remains civil so that audiences don't discover what really lies behind those smiles?! *Dern: Supporting Actor, Coming Home (1978); Griffith: Actress, Working Girl (1988)

A small-town beauty pageant, and the turmoil it causes in the lives of its participants and sponsors, is the focus of this dark and witty cult comedy from Michael Ritchie (The Bad News Bears, Fletch). Bruce Dern shines in a rare comic lead as the chief judge of the "Young American Miss" contest, and his ability to find humor and pathos in his sad-sack character is well-matched by Barbara Feldon as a glacial former contestant, Geoffrey Lewis as a densely heartless sponsor, and famed choreographer Michael Kidd as (what else) the disillusioned pageant choreographer. Ritchie and writer Jerry Belson split the film's focus between the contestants (among them Annette O'Toole, Melanie Griffith, and Colleen Camp) and the sponsors and judges, and if the plot takes an absurd turn at the climax, Smile is ultimately a rare satire that cares for its characters while skewering their foibles. --Paul Gaita