Smart People | 
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| Director: Noam Murro
Actors: Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church, Ellen Page, Ashton Holmes
Studio: Miramax
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.99
Buy Used: $4.25
You Save: $25.74 (86%)
New (47) Used (41) from $4.25
Rating:  49 reviews
Sales Rank: 1348
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 95
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 5650603
UPC: 786936755916
EAN: 0786936755916
ASIN: B0019XZDZO
Theatrical Release Date: April 11, 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.System Requirements:Running Time: 95 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/BUDDY FILMS Rating: R UPC: 786936755916 Manufacturer No: 5650603
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 44 more reviews...
 Smart people aren't always September 28, 2008
22 out of 44 found this review helpful
Dennis Quaid plays an English professor so pompous and self-contained that the unpleasant odor of mothballs must emanate off that tweed jacket he wears. Stuck. Stuck in a past when his wife died and he became a widower. Stuck in a career where he allows no growth for himself. Smart people.
His daughter, a pompous and bombastic smart person, is a brainiac headed to Stanford. Her uncle pretty much defines her as a robotic android. The uncle and adopted brother comes into the story early on. A n'e'r-do-well who enjoys muddling through life, he, too, is one of the "smart people." He uses his intelligence to become the an unintentional nudge for change for the daughter.
Then there's the son, now a student at the same college where his dad doggedly teaches. Dr. Wetherhold most likely uses the same notes prepared the first time he delivered the lecture. Words just billow from him like smoke and not living things to be savored with others--his students. He holds their essays in as much disdain. During the course of the story he positions himself to be named the head of the English department.
The pivotal point of the story is the doctor who treats Lawrence in the emergency room and grounds him from driving for six months (actually in retaliation for a C he assigned one of her essays written ten years earlier when she was his student and originally an English major.)
They go out to eat. After he delivers a 45-minute soliloquy about Victorian literature, she interrupts to tell him what a stuffed windbag he is and leaves.
All these people live in a grim reality of unrequited happiness, acceptance of the status quo, and inertia to change anything. Little by little, life intercedes. There's a miracle that changes everything.
"Smart People" is about smart people, but not as a positive attribute. To take pride in being smart and not extending beyond oneself is the height of selfishness. Some thinkers would say this is good, but the characters in this story don't even know they are lost in a maze of the thick muck of conceit and the supercilious. However, when two smart people collide and a tiny spark flickers, anything can happen.
 Its okay. September 26, 2008
A lot of talent and dennis quaid made a movie. And, its okay. Its not bad. Its not great. Its good, no serious holes or terrible plot, just a movie.
"We Could Use Some Antivenin in Here" ... September 24, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Wetherhold family is still reeling from the death of its matriarch. The environment is simply toxic. Professor Wetherhold clings to his departed wife's clothes. And, his teenage daughter uncannily slides into Mom's role: making dinners with internet recipes, tending to the laundry, and conducting various other hausfrau duties. When Uncle Lawrence arrives to help/mooch, the hilarity (almost but not really) begins.
As is customary with indie films, there is nothing tidy about this work. Most of the characters are deliberately detestable: Professor Wetherhold (Quaid) is a self-absorbed misanthrope, his teenage daughter (Page) may as well be his doppelganger, and love-interest Dr. Hartigan (Parker) is excruciatingly insular (and still obsessed with a "C" paper she received in the professor's Victorian Literature course). While well-played, this dynamic becomes deadly ... the film just stagnates.
Now, the one redeeming feature of this work is Thomas Haden Church's portrayal of Uncle Lawrence. Though nothing could possibly make this film truly great, Church makes it bearable. (And I thought I'd hate him for eternity after his despicable role in Sideways!) With stark honesty, Church revives our memories of "that uncle" ... the one with all the "get rich quick" ideas, the one needing a place to crash, the one who bought you beer when you were sixteen ... yeah, that guy. And, instead of playing a buffoon, Church brings the role depth. There is something vulnerable in his character. For all his flaws, he is by far the most human ... and it is he who begins to heal the "brilliant family." (Ironic, I suppose).
Much like doctors who detest ER, I found myself made uncomfortable by the depiction of academia (which constitutes the bulk of the film). Yes, it really is all politics ... yes, jargon-laden garbage really does translate to serious promotions ... but the whining students were just painful. I guess every seat-filler thinks he/she is memorable ... I can assure you, most aren't. Why should Professor Wetherhold feel guilty for not remembering inconsequential people? Why should he regret making less-than-glowing comments on student-papers? It's his job. I guess I'm just too close to the subject to be objective, but it seems some overly sensitive English major (who once-upon-a-time received a "hard-breaking" "C") wrote this script.
Be prepared for a slow-paced film with some flashes of genuine comedy ... but nothing that will alter your life ... nothing you will even care to discuss (in the faculty lounge) on Monday morning.
Smart Dysfunctional People September 18, 2008
I think 'Smart People' is an acquired taste, but it's a movie that I definitely enjoyed. A cross between 'Little Miss Sunshine' and 'As Good As It Gets, 'Smart People' is witty, sarcastically humorous and intelligent.
The characters are quirky and awkward; each of their personalities is taken to such an extreme that it becomes comical. Great acting overall; Ellen Page is brilliant in the role of Vanessa, an over-achieving, anti-social teenager. I was slightly disappointed with Sarah Jessica Parker, as her mannerisms were too reminiscent of 'Sex and the City', especially during the bedroom scene.
 Not a Comedy, Not "Smart," NOT worth your time September 14, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This movie is as funny as The Seventh Seal and about as intellectual as Transformers. Simply because Smart People's characters use words, phrases, and cite literary works few know outside Academia does not make this inpalatanle piece of unadulaterated garbage intelligent, and thus I found it to be obnoxious. It isn't funny. It isn't that smart. It's dull, boring, and depressing.
I would give it 0 stars, but the minimum for Amazon is 1.
Do not waste your time on Smart People.
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