In "Nashville," Altman wielded a scalpel of satire, but Richie just uses a club. There is an improvisatory feel to the best of the beauty pageant scenes that remind me of Milos Forman's superb "Taking Off," and there are very good performances by Barbara Feldon and Bruce Dern, as well as a truly memorable one by Annette O'Toole (plus the heartbreaking beauty of 17 year old Melanie Griffith), but the movie is too often condescending and mean-spirited toward its characters.

I feared the worst --lampooning beauty pageants is shooting fish in a barrel, but Michael Ritchie's Smile is yet another example of the peak period of American filmmaking. Many of the contestants are sympathetic, and the film's downbeat ending speaks to the malaise that encroached upon American optimism. It's also a nifty time capsule. In a weird way, it's specificy of time and location hasn't dated it but made it more authentic.

Funny satire of a national high-school girls' beauty pageant. No prisoners are taken