His breakdown is peppered with rueful laughter amid tears of defeat, a recognition of the absurdity of defining one's self by one idea, one he admits he can't fully remember what it was about beyond «something different.» (rogerebert.com)
Here is one performer (Testud) whose features — small sad eyes, sharp nose, wide rueful smile — can sustain a feature by themselves. (metacritic.com)
Agent Clare Alexander had her audience laughing, their chuckles as rueful as merry. (janefriedman.com)