Smart People | 
| Director: Noam Murro
Actors: Dennis Quaid, Thomas Haden Church, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, Ashton Holmes
Studio: Miramax
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.99
Buy Used: $1.09
You Save: $18.90 (95%)
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Rating:  70 reviews
Sales Rank: 11713
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 5650603
UPC: 786936755916
EAN: 0786936755916
ASIN: B0019XZDZO
Theatrical Release Date: 2008
Release Date: August 12, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
From the producer of Sideways -- get to know a lovable yet dysfunctional family everyone can relate to in this lighthearted comedy People (Leah Rozen) calls "smart and enjoyable." When Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) -- a widowed and self-absorbed professor -- falls for his attractive former student (Sex and the City's Sarah Jessica Parker), his all-too-predictable life suddenly turns sunny side up. That is until his freeloading brother (Thomas Haden Church) and his sharp-tongued overachieving daughter (Juno's Ellen Page) speak up, making "chaos" the word of the day. Now on DVD, Smart People is even funnier with never-before-seen interviews, deleted scenes and hilarious outtakes.
Amazon.com
Much in the manner of Curtis Hanson's Wonder Boys, the very funny and bracingly intelligent Smart People concerns a college instructor meandering through life until unexpected developments force a cascade of personal changes. Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid), a recently widowed literature professor, is a numb and chilly intellectual who rebuffs his students, ignores his all-but-emancipated teen kids (Ashton Holmes and Juno's Ellen Page), and spurns cries for financial assistance from his ne'er-do-well but rather soulful adopted brother, Chuck (Thomas Haden Church). After an accident lands Lawrence in the hospital and deprives him of the right to drive, someone else falls into his bleak sphere: Janet (Sarah Jessica Parker), a physician and former student of Lawrence who remembers her disappointment in him as a teacher and role model. Against all logic, Janet and Lawrence become a romantic item, a choice for which neither of them is entirely prepared. Meanwhile, Chuck and Vanessa (Page) enter an awkward phase in their relationship as niece and uncle, just another sign that the Wetherhold clan has become too insular and self-referential. Screenwriter Mark Poirier's inspired and literate story sets up lots of chaos, attitude, and cross-conflict, then hangs back and lets the characters verbally spar, much to our great amusement. What's happening, however, are deep changes in relationships and destinies that Lawrence and the others naturally resist, until they can't. Director Noam Murro knows one of his most important contributions to the film is to stay out of the characters' way and provide Poirier's barbed humor a supportive setting. Quaid is outstanding as the pivotal figure in this tale, a man who looks creaky and washed up beyond his years, but who is not entirely past redemption. --Tom Keogh
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| Customer Reviews: Read 65 more reviews...
 Good redemption yarn June 29, 2009
Bradley F. Smith (Miami Beach, FL)
While you won't belly laugh at anything here, the film is quietly inteligent, as its title implies. Dennis Quaid played a canky college professor in the much weaker "DOA" back in the 80s. Here, he nails this role as a jaded English lit prof in Pittsburgh who undergoes a small emotional transformation as he meets a new girlfriend and learns to endure his n'er do well adopted brother. Great ensemble acting here and a nice indie soundtrack, to boot.
 Too smart to watch this one again. June 14, 2009
Nicole Bradshaw (Jackson, MS USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Smart People stars Dennis Quaid, Ellen Page, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Thomas Haden Church. The film tells the story of Lawrence Wetherhold (Quaid), a literature professor at Carnegie Mellon. Lawrence lost his wife some years before the movie begins, and he appears to have been emotionally stunted ever since. He relates to his daughter, Vanessa (Page), on a purely intellectual basis, and he's cut off entirely from both his grown son and his adopted brother, Chuck (Haden Church).
However, after a medical emergency, Lawrence meets Janet Hartigan (Parker), a former student now working as a physician. The two feel drawn to one another, and Lawrence's shell of smarts slowly begins to crack.
I really wanted to like this movie. The cast is great, and the concept, I think, is a good one. The problem? I really didn't give a hoot about most of the characters until the movie was damn near over. I never "got" what made Lawrence and Janet good for one another. I also found it difficult to relate to any of the characters. I mean, I understand that Lawrence needs to be an arrogant blowhard at times, but maybe a bit more humanity on Quaid's part (and in the script?) in some of the early scenes would have helped me out here. Ditto with Parker, who exasperated me to no end for no apparent reason.
Page's Vanessa and Haden Church's Chuck were the only things that kept me watching. Page did a good job portraying Vanessa's confusion, her defense mechanisms, her vulnerability, and I appreciated it. Haden Church provided the only lightness in the script, which was desperately needed considering all the just plain draggy folks we were having to spend time with. I was avidly looking for such from all the characters, but I left disappointed.
Not a must-see.
Well acted ramble June 7, 2009
T. Johnson (Portland, OR)
Although the movie doesn't exactly have a clear plot and a defined message or a particular ending, I enjoyed it anyway. It's one of those slighly "artsy" films where you have to just sit back and enjoy the moments. The acting is superb by all - I kind of thought Dennis Quaid was channeling Jack Nicholson at some points though. It's probably the best work I've seen by any of the actors. I liked that a lot of things remained unsaid. Also of note, the soundtrack fit the film perfectly, it added a lot - enough that I'm considering purchasing the soundtrack, which is a rarity for me.
Discover Ellen Page April 7, 2009
Steve Perlowski (Des Moines, IA)
This is a solid three star movie, but I elevated it to four stars because of Ellen Page. It's the first time I've seen her, and what a great surprise. She dominates every scene she's in--even those with Thomas Haden Church--and she does it with perfectly-honed understatement. Lilian Gish once said: "never let 'em catch you acting," and Ellen Page doesn't.
 This one falls short, but it was still ok. March 10, 2009
Peter Shermeta (Rochester, MI)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A self-absorbed college professor lost sight of the need to be sensitive of other people and their feelings when his wife died. Raising his daughter on his own has been difficult, but she's growing up just like her dad. And no, that is not a good thing. (He has a son, too, but he seems at least relatively well adjusted. So this movie is not about him.) The professor's dead-beat brother moves in with them and tries to give perspective to both the professor and his daughter.
Apparently there is a new formula in small-budget, independent comedies. What do you add to a pretentious lead character to create comedy? Thomas Hayden Church. It worked in Sideways, and it worked again here. He is the down-on-his-luck brother who weasles his way in to free room and board. While staying with his brother and niece he shakes them out of old habits and tries to implore them to take control and live their lives free from societal pressures to be something they do not want to be. Sounds heavy, but it wasn't that bad.
This was Ellen Page's big follow-up to Juno. I don't think this was what people were hoping for. As the professor's daughter she brought all of the attitude of Juno with none of the charm.
Dennis Quaid is our nutty professor, our single father. I like Mr. Quaid. I think that his often-exasperated mannerisms are enjoyable, almost Jack Nicholson-esque at times. I find comfort in his schtick, I guess. He was sometimes frustrating, but otherwise good yet again.
Smart People could have been called "Boring People and the Brother," but that is probably less marketable. This is an okay movie with a good cast. And the overall feel of the movie was saved by Thomas Hayden Church. I don't want to give him a reputation he cannot live up to, but the small resurgence in his career has been worthwhile for me.
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