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A fading bromance derails a budding romance in "Space Waves," a gentle comedy-drama about two best friends' quest to become the #1 rated podcast on iTunes. An iconic microwave tower, a cherry red Mustang, and a brainless skateboarding video provide the eye candy for this surprisingly good film.

Shot entirely on location in rural Northern California, the story plays out so naturally that I only noticed in retrospect that there was no sex, violence or swearing in the film. Didn't miss it.

Writer-director Spencer Whiteout's semi-autobiographical script is a genuinely funny, dramatic, romantic, G-rated, coming-of-age story of teenage best friends Joey (Rudy Pankow) and Marvin (Andrew Gabriel), Marvin's neglected girlfriend Sawyer (Andie Mueller), and the hilarious, scene-stealing Duke Skylander (Tyson Pestner) who is making a brainless, skateboarding movie.

The only reason I gave this five stars was because the A-list of actors. The script was a mish-mash of poorly conceived plots painfully forced together in artificial contrivance with virtually no actual interplay among the plots. I used to be a script analyst in Hollywood. I never would have passed this amateurish attempt at a screenplay. I guess if you like the actors and aren't bothered by unsophisticated, vaguely plotted, sappy romantic comedy, you might enjoy this movie. I didn't.

"Smile" is a tour de force of acting and dialog in a multi-plotted, total send-up of teenage beauty contests. Bruce Dern kills it as an all-in JayCee booster, RV salesman and beauty contest judge with a very horny teenage son. Barbara Feldon is marvelous as a ruthlessly pleasant bitch in charge of coaching several dozen beauty contestants, who range from cynically jaded to hopelessly naive. Working from a lively and complex script, this film is brilliantly directed and acted.