Hide Your Smiling Faces

With excellent performances from Ryan Jones and Nathan Varnson, "Hide Your Smiling Faces" is another of the remarkable and recently seen films about children and adolescents, adding it to a list that includes "These Birds Walk", a documentary about street kids in Pakistan, who find refuge in a home created by an old humanist; and a science- fiction motion picture dealing with education, and sold as a horror movie, called "The Tall Man", which is in reality a terrifying parable of the destiny of children these days, that made me think of the education methods in totalitarian societies and reminded me of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". "Hide Your Smiling Faces" is the gentle one, although it does not lack elements of tension in environment, family and relations among the young persons. It belongs to the category of observational motion pictures, in which you deduce and obtain information (and, from an aesthetic angle, pleasure from the viewing experience) in a very quiet way. Even its dramatic peaks are handled in a wise tone, with a quiet touch, when danger is present: I refer to the final scenes involving Jones and Varnson, with elders and the force of nature (I can't be more specific, for I would spoil your viewing experience). In a jaded world where violent images are what bring "artistic fulfillment" to most persons, motion pictures like this one, although rarely done, are the kind of productions that are needed every now and then, to remind us all what we are, where we belong and what in the end is the purpose of existence.

Tommy's getting older, so now his teenage brother Eric can teach him to be a man. It's a slow change at first, but a tragedy speeds up the process. Something even Eric isn't ready for as an older brother. Possibly even making him go through the exact same emotions as Tommy.

The film was made just past my childhood/teenage years, but it was timeless enough. It could be set in any year, at least within the past two decades, and still remind the viewer of their own summer experiences.

The story is set in a rural area of New Jersey, so I might be biased as I grew up in a suburban Connecticut town. Tri state area to the core, but the film could easily be set in a different state. There are very little markers of it's location, and at its heart the plot is about two brothers growing closer over one long summer.

The cast is rather bland. I know it's supposed to be a dark, brooding film, and it is indeed that. But the lack of talent on the actor's part is very noticable. The story is good though, despite some serious writing flaws and dialogue that's just flat most of the time. Plus it's just way too long. This could've been condensed easily into a 60 minute movie. Despite all this though, I kept wanting to know what was going to happen. I'll never watch this again, but I did enjoy it even though it was riddled with glaring faults. That's rare for me. The music was appropriate and atmospheric and not a distraction. The visuals, especially nature, were stunning.

No film at the Tribeca Film Festival or any film in recent memory has captured the cultural and significant impacts of tragedy in the minds of adolescence than Daniel Patrick Carbone's Hide Your Smiling Faces. Engagingly suspenseful, this tale about two brothers, after a tragedy occurs in their rural town, must confront their own demons that include relationships, nature, and morality. Tommy (Ryan Jones) and Eric (Nathan Varnson) are confronted with morally conflicting views of life and as the two try to siphon their own processes surrounding their tragedy, an underlining beauty exists that I'm not sure I fully understand after the film. Hide Your Smiling Faces lays it on and lays it on hard as these two boys encounter several instances of adult situations through the eyes of young children. Writer/director Carbone isn't troubled to ask the tough questions of youth and as the boys battle through their layers of guilt, innocence, and even sexuality, Carbone explores the soul of youth and comes up with a phenomenal portrait that stands proudly next to classics like Stand by Me (1986). The dynamic Nathan Varnson and purely magical Ryan Jones are simply perfection in their roles. Varnson, who is very reminiscent of Hunter McCracken's powerhouse turn in The Tree of Life (2011), is somberly brilliant and he arranges emotion after emotion on top of his youthful persona. His execution is truly dazzling and it's a inspirational performance that stands as the stone pillar of the film. Ryan Jones is equally effective and mounts the single finest scene of any film seen this year so far with absolute precision. Diverse and adaptable in any given scene, these two boys carry the entire framework of the film and are the most beloved trait for you to take home. Daniel Patrick Carbone is a jack of all trades who not only writes and directs the film with an infinite amount of passion but manages to edit the film to a subdued aura that is both pleasing and smooth. Not to mention his intention to give the audience several instances of apprehension that can give a person with a pacemaker an early trip to the grave, Carbone places guns in the hands of children, puts them near the ledges of a bridge, and even puts them face to face with the dangers of nature. While suicide even plays a prominent theme, Carbone's subtle approaches to how one can interpret the death of a loved one are astutely profound. It's damn near perfection in every sense. His filmmaking style and imagery are very Malick-esque and his deep-rooted appreciation for nature is, well, appreciated. What makes him a true professional is he doesn't just lay it on us for the sake of art, he believes in the message that the Mother Nature is trying to convey. Surveying the decomposition of an animal becomes a stapled foundation for the child in all of us to stand on. I found myself richly tearful, examining the mutation of emotions as they manifest themselves into different behaviors. You can't ask more from a film. Not to mention, an eighty-minute endeavor such as this. Hide Your Smiling Faces is a magnificent portrait and Carbone's paintbrush laid strokes of love, anger, confusion, and a rainbow of emotions to indulge the audience. It's one of the most pleasant surprises experienced at a festival thus far.

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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.