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Smart People | 
| 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: $8.84
You Save: $21.15 (71%)
New (35) Used (17) from $8.84
Avg. Customer Rating:  40 reviews
Sales Rank: 256
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 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
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
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 35 more reviews...
 Smart, Funny, and Moving August 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Well acted, written, and directed--this film could very well be the best of 2008. It nicely straddles the line between comedy and drama, and the Oscar-worthy performances by Quaid, Haden Church, and Page are so strong, you can't help but feel like you're part of their world. It's subtle in how it deals with life's disappointments, but ultimately it's moving and entertaining. Kudos to Miramax for getting behind a such an intimate film that doesn't have the neat Hollywood ending. If you like Sideways or You Can Count in Me, you'll really enjoy Smart People. If you're not prepared to think, or you don't want to think, and you're looking for mindless entertainment, this film is not for you. I'm hoping that despite the fact that this was released in theaters in April, come awards time, this gem will be noticed.
 Not even Thomas Haden Church could save this one August 24, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I want my 31 minutes back. Seriously. High hopes for this movie. It sat on my entertainment center for 8 days while I waited for just the right moment. Right moment comes and I get pretentious twaddle with stereotypical characters and bad background music. What a HUGE waste of a fabulous cast!
 Smart actors, smart idea, but not so smart movie August 24, 2008
Actors are in the range from great to correct, characters are interesting, there is material for a good story but... the pieces in the puzzle never come together.
The movie is not boring and there is a witty first description of disfunctional characters linked to each other through very peculiar and rather cold family relationships.
But that is all the movie gets at.
It completely fails when trying to put together a story. The characters' conflicts are resolved whith such simplicity that they become hardly to believe and understand. Therefore the movie, which in theory appeals to one's feelings, becomes superficial and predictable and loses almost all credibility. It is as if the writer of a novel got tired of taking the time to give us a good first description of his/her characters and then tried to summarize and put an end to their conflicts in two pages, or furthermore, in a final paragraph that serves as an epilogue (actually part of the story's most important issues are resolved in a sequence of snapshots that accompany the movie's credits).
Smart People is well below other recent movies dealing with isolation and repressed human feelings like The Visitor.
 People, yes. Smart, sometimes. August 23, 2008
I expected to really like "Smart People" since I typically like dysfunctional family movies and I like all of the actors in the movie. Instead, I reached the end of the movie going 'hmm.' Although "Smart People" has lots of smart writing and is occasionally funny, it lacks the spark in interaction between the characters that is necessary to create a really great film in this genre.
"Smart People" centers around the life of Lawrence Wetherhold (Quaid) who is an English Professor at Carnegie Mellon. Wetherhold acts like he can barely tolerate the rest of humanity, even though he cares for his two teenage children and his adopted brother. After a freak accident, he encounters Janet Hartigan (Parker), a former student who is now a doctor. The two begin dating, and Parker serves as the catalyst for change--eventually for the better--in Wetherhold's life.
Except the problem is the viewer doesn't see enough of the Wetherhold-Hartigan relationship to see exactly why she changes him. And why she's really interested in him at all, since he is arrogant and condescending towards her. This movie could have used a lot more interaction between these two characters, and a lot less between Wetherhold and his daughter--although in the absence of a compelling relationship between the two leads, the daughter (Ellen Page) does supply much of the entertainment in the movie. To succeed, these movies need to develop strong relationships between characters, and "Smart People" lacks those relationships. The seeds are there, but without full development, this movie is lacking something.
I would recommend "Smart People" to people who like dysfunctional family dramas, but I would warn them that it's not as good as movies like "Little Miss Sunshine".
"Forgettable" People August 20, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I really wanted to like this movie. Some of my favorite movies are "dramedies" - movies that contain both drama and comedy, because that is just like real life. This film seemed to fall right into that category. Not only that, but I really like many of the actors in this film, including Dennis Quaid, Ellen Page, and Thomas Haden Church. The movie is from the producer of Sideways, a movie that I enjoyed very much. Because of all of this, I was really looking forward to seeing this film.
Dennis Quaid plays Lawrence Wetherhold, a middle-aged, widowed literature professor from Carnegie Mellon University. He has an over-achieving daughter named Vanessa, played well by Ellen Page. Lawrence, depressed over the loss of his wife, ends up alienating everyone around him, including his daughter and his students. Lawrence's adopted brother Chuck, played by Thomas Haden Church, arrives unexpectedly at the door one day looking for money and a place to stay. Reluctantly, Lawrence allows Chuck to stay with them.
Lawrence ends up meeting Janet, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, who is a doctor and former student of his. A romance develops between the two of them. Can the recent changes in Lawrence's life, including Chuck's visit and meeting Janet, be enough to get Lawrence out of his funk and looking at life in a different way?
Maybe in part it's because I had high hopes for it, but after seeing it I was disappointed. Some of the acting was good, and there were bits of clever dialogue and a few scenes that were worthwhile, but in the end it wasn't enough to make a good movie. There wasn't anything memorable in this film, and I just didn't care about the characters very much. It was worth the one time viewing, but ultimately it was forgettable, and I wouldn't want to watch it a second time.
A partial list of the many excellent movies in the same genre that would be much more worth your time include Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, Sideways, The Bucket List, American Beauty, Waitress, Garden State and As Good As It Gets.
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