This entry was posted on Sunday, April 13th, 2008 at 6:47 pm and is filed under Drama - Romance, Movie Reviews, NEW IN THEATER, S. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Director: Noam Murro
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ellen Page, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Hayden Church, Ashton Holmes
First time director Noam Murro does a commendable job in creating this amusing drama about socially malfunctioning people and those who love them. The story is a routine light romance about recovery from loss and family dynamics. The dialog is airy and enjoyable, and is helped by a talented cast, including the now acclaimed, Ellen Page. This film was made before Juno and was probably headed for a straight to video release before Page’s exploding fame made theatrical release a no-brainer. The characters are not always convincing, but the strengths of the film easily compensate.
Dennis Quaid is Lawrence Weatherhold, a struggling, self-absorbed widower, who is going through the motions with his two teenage children, including Vanessa (Ellen Page), an intellectually obsessed and socially challenged high school senior with a shield thick enough to defend the USS Enterprise. Lawrence finds possible romance with an emaciated physician named Janet (Sarah Jessica Parker), who should prescribe herself a couple buckets worth of KFC therapy. For some unfathomable reason, this former student finds herself attracted to the virtually unlovable Professor Weatherhold. Also stepping back into Weatherhold’s life, is his irresponsible and insolvent adopted brother, Chuck (Thomas Hayden Church), who seems like the only person capable of restoring this family to functionality. But can he do it?
Smart People is an entertaining but unremarkable film for fans of light romantic formula dramas. Page and Church are outstanding and have some good support, but the story is not wholly believable and this hurts its overall effect. The performances, refreshing characters and a few good jokes still make it a worthwhile cheap seat or video pick.
Smart People – movie quotes:
“Why would you have a baby with me?”
“Because you don’t know how to use a condom.” MMM – to paraphrase another film, “Chicks dig guys with skills (especially condom skills).
“These children haven’t been properly parented in many years. They’re practically feral. That’s why I was brought in.” MMM – this was the best line of the film, or would have been, if it wasn’t just in the trailer after being cut from the film in an editing boner.
Movie lines from Smart People
