A disadvantaged young man tries to get by in Margaret Thatcher's England. Writing in his book ''The Cinema of Ken Loach'', Jacob Leigh comments: "''Looks and Smiles'' reveals the depression people felt in the industrial North of England in the 1980s; but it is as depressing as Mick's life. ... Loach's characteristic attention to detail renders the film a period piece."<ref name=Leigh/>