Smart People [Blu-ray]

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Starring: Dennis Quaid, Thomas Haden Church, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, Ashton Holmes
Directed by: Noam Murro
Binding: Blu-ray
Published: 2008-08-12

$19.99

Features:

Anamorphic
Color
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Subtitled

Smart People [Blu-ray]

Editorial Review:

Driven by a clever script and fine performances, SMART PEOPLE is set in the land of academia, a place where both Lawrence and Vanessa have taken refuge and plunged themselves into as escape from the external world. In spite of their high IQs, both father and daughter are equally clueless when it comes to navigating relationships. This becomes obvious as Vanessa develops a line-blurring relationship with her uncle, and Lawrence stumbles in romancing his doctor. If Vanessa wants a shot at happiness and Lawrence wants to make things work in his love life, both will have to adopt new attitudes or risk further alienation. Starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, and Thomas Hayden Church.
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

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0

OK entertainment:

A movie about drab intellectuals. It's like watching a baseball game, with long periods of boredom punctuated by brief moments of action and excitement. Of course, life is like that sometimes. And some people like baseball. It was OK.

SMART MOVIE:

from the producers that brought us "Sideways" comes "Smart People". If you enjoyed the wit of "Sideways" you will enjoy this also. This has to be Dennis Quaid's best movie in years. "Sideways" alum Thomas Haden Church returns for another funny, goofy role. Ellen Page is refreshing and touching. Sarah Jessica Parker's role is some of her best work.
The writing gives the actors a lot of juice to work with and good writing makes good actors and the writing here is good.
I will not give plot... more info

Smart People (and not so smart) Won't Like This Movie:

If you need one word to sum up this film, that word is FLAT! Dennis Quaid is miscast as the depressed college professor/father (is that very fake gut pillow necessary?) And Jessica Parker as the new girlfriend/physician (do female doctors really wear their long hair hanging down around their face all day while treating patients in a hospital?) is also working beyond her range here. What is supposed to be dark comedy is unconvincing and forced. You get the feeling there was no time for rehearsing scenes... more info

No Sideways, But Still Very Entertaining!:

I tell you folks, not many actors in history can do what Thomas Haden Church does. He is so underrated and underappreciated. He doesn't do a ton of movies, but when he is on his A-game, not many people are better. He tends to steal a scene, seemingly unintentionally. He's just good, really good.
Dennis Quaid has sort of been out of the radar for awhile and did a very good job playing a self-absorbej, cynical, jerk-of-a-proffesor. His character is so sure that everyone else on Earth are idiots except... more info

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