Despite a lukewarm box office at the time, the film has grown into a significant cult classic. It predates the "female-led weed comedy" wave seen in shows like Broad City and remains "refreshingly funny" without being preachy.
What sets Smiley Face apart from its "dude-centric" peers is . Critics have called her performance "award-worthy" and "extraordinarily committed," as she perfectly captures the paranoia and distorted logic of being too high to function. Whether she’s trying to frame a picture of President Garfield because she loves lasagna or reciting the Communist Manifesto on a Ferris wheel, Faris makes Jane lovable despite her constant bad decisions. An All-Star Supporting Cast
However, she commits the "original sin" of the movie: eating a batch of cupcakes her roommate Steve () explicitly told her not to touch. Unbeknownst to Jane, they are pot cupcakes. Now "stratospherically baked," Jane spends the rest of her 88-minute runtime in a series of increasingly bizarre misadventures across Los Angeles. A Masterclass in Comedy