Smart People

Plot synopsis:
Carnegie Mellon English Professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is a widowed parent of his alienated college son, James (Ashton Holmes), overachieving high school daughter, Vanessa (Ellen Page), and sibling to his adopted ne'er-do-well brother, Chuck (Thomas Haden Church) that he cannot evade enough. The professor is bitter, arrogant, self-absorbed and uninterested in his students; this does not help him when he parks illegally on campus, his car is impounded and does not pay his fine before getting to the college impound lot watched by a flunked former student.
Lawrence suffers a trauma-induced seizure after falling from the top of a fence in an attempt to retrieve his briefcase from inside his impounded car. In the emergency room, he is treated by Dr. Janet Hartigan (Parker), a former student he does not remember. Lawrence has to figure out a way to get about without being able to operate his car; Chuck is without a place to sleep and a job so Vanessa sets things up for what he characterizes as a "win/win" situation.
Lawrence goes to the hospital for a follow-up, where another doctor tells him Janet had been his student. He meets Janet again outside the hospital as he is leaving and, since Chuck has failed to show up, she offers to take him home. When they arrive, he asks Janet to join him for a "face-to-face conversation." She agrees, fulfilling her old student crush on the professor. Vanessa is not pleased, confronting Janet about Lawrence's fragility. At dinner, Lawrence monopolizes the conversation and Janet walks out. Lawrence fakes a visit to the emergency room to see Janet again and the two reconcile for a second date. They get back to Janet's place where they have sex, but while spending the night, Janet is turned off by Lawrence's neediness and worries that he is, in fact, still too distraught by his wife's death. To get rid of him, she feigns being called in by the hospital and does not return any of his subsequent calls. On another night, in the midst of a contentious family Christmas dinner at the Wetherholds', Janet arrives unannounced with a cake.
After Chuck gets Vanessa drunk to celebrate her early acceptance into Stanford University, she makes a pass at him, which he rejects. He then moves in part-time with Lawrence's son, James (Ashton Holmes), in his college dormitory.
James' girlfriend, Missy (Camille Mana), who is one of his father's students, tells Lawrence that James has had a poem accepted by The New Yorker. In contrast, Lawrence's latest academic tome has been universally rejected. After Vanessa suggests a new title, You Can't Read!, the book is sold to Penguin Group, a large non-academic publisher in New York. To Lawrence's dismay, however, the book is largely re-worked and edited by the publisher and only vaguely resembles his original work. Janet accompanies Lawrence on a trip to New York to meet with the publisher, where she learns she is pregnant with his child. Finding him preoccupied by his book's publishing and an ongoing campaign to become chairman of the English Department, Janet is again upset by Lawrence's self-absorption and breaks up with him without telling him the news.
Back in Pittsburgh, Lawrence is confronted by both James and Chuck, who both point to his apparent lack of interest in his children's lives. Encouraged by Chuck, Lawrence goes to the hospital to reconcile with Janet, who reveals her pregnancy. He has meanwhile dropped his bid to become department head and has become a more involved parent and professor.
During the end credits, Lawrence and Janet cradle twin babies: one boy and one girl.

Tags: romantic, psychedelic

Review:
He has a dead-beat brother-in-law (Thomas Haden Church who steals every scene he's in), a daughter (Ellen Page) who is a young Ann Coulter in the making, and a son (Ashton Holmes) to whom he never talks.This film is quite funny!
Page and Church were definitely the stand-outs, but I appreciated Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker, two actors who I rarely ever have liked.
Page, fresh off her star-making turn as Juno (though Smart People was filmed earlier), is an actress I've liked in a couple of movies I disliked (Juno and Hard Candy).
The solid performances make the film likable and the story is interesting to watch, while it's not something that everyone can relate too, it's a good movie.Lawerance is a college professor who isn't the most popular guy on campus, he's pompous, arrogant, and puts himself higher above his students while ignoring their plea's for extra help on assignments.
They start to date, his daughter, Vanessa, goes through her life realizing she's never really had fun, and his adopted brother, Chuck needs this family just as much as Lawerance needs it.Smart People, the major problem is that this was advertised as a comedy, it has some funny moments, but they're not what you would call laugh out loud.
I'd say this is more of a drama with comedic elements, kind of like "Dan in Real Life", so Smart People didn't have "Smart Advertisement", but the movie is worth the watch.
Dennis Quaid as Laurence Wetherhold, Sarah Jessica Parker as Janet Hartigan, Thomas Haden Church as Chuck, Ellen Page as Vanessa, Ashton Holmes as James  all turn in wonderful performances in a perfectly matched cast.To me the pace is perfect, and the dialog is crisp, compelling, almost flawless, with lots of funny lines.For me, one of the most uplifting features of this movie is the way the whole ensemble of characters develops together.
The movie, however, is rather dull and depressed.It was interesting to hear Page's perky "smart alec" voice in a character she played before "Juno." It indicates that much of what she showed us in "Juno" was HER, and not mere dialogue or direction.Alas, the characters in "Smart People," especially Dennis Quaid's, were scruffy dim-bulbs, and not very pleasant, not admirable, nor watchable.Bottom line, this clunker had sat unreleased and in the warehouse for a reason.
Time to Learn and Move On. The anti-social and bitter widower Professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is an egocentric and pompous man that is unpopular among his students and colleagues, and model for his teenager daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page), who is lonely and outcast in her school.
Dennis Quaid, Ellen Page, Thomas Haden Church and Sarah Jessica Parker are perfectly cast for their roles and their performances of human characters are fantastic.
So Noam Murro's Smart People, about a widower professor of literature, and his brainy family initially put me off with its dysfunctional crew, but as I slowly gave myself to the cynicism and inhumanity, I realized this crazy world was one I know well, and well is it depicted in its humor and pathos.Although Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is tenured at Carnegie Mellon and on the brink of having a book accepted for publication, he is surly to everyone else, even his young students and his feckless adopted brother, Chuck (Thomas Haden Church), and unhappy with himself, in large part, it would seem, because of the untimely death of his talented wife that allows him to wallow unchecked in self pity.
Quaid's interpretation borders on annoying, so unremittingly curmudgeonly does he play it.Former student and head of ER at a local hospital, Dr. Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker), has the potential to pull him out of his funk if his devoted, brilliant, and acerbic daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page) can't.
Yet, it is just that seeming banality that makes the movie work in the long run.A pot-bellied Dennis Quaid plays a snarling, insensitive English Literature professor who's pretty much gone to seed in both his personal and professional life, a character not too far removed from the one played by Michael Caine in "Educating Rita." Lawrence Wetherhold is still so devastated by the death of his wife that he keeps all her clothes hanging in the bedroom closet as a sort of unholy shrine to the dearly departed woman.
Needless to say, Lawrence hasn't made any great strides moving on with his life - until, that is, he strikes up a tentative romance with a physician and former student of his (Sarah Jessica Parker) who helps him to begin that too long delayed process of reconnecting himself to the world.There's nothing particularly original or earth-shattering in this umpteenth tale of a burnt-out teacher finding a renewal of commitment and purpose in his profession, but writer Mark Poirier has provided enough in the way of ancillary details of character and plotting to at least keep matters interesting.Ellen Page, for instance, plays Lawrence's overly possessive daughter, Vanessa, a college-bound Young Republican who's more obsessed with earning a perfect score on her SATs than with establishing meaningful friendships with people her own age.
Yet, despite his own troubles and failings, Chuck is the one who tries to get his niece to loosen up a bit and finally start enjoying life.Together these characters drift through life, making wry observations on their situations and relationships on their way to a happy ending.There may be a few too many musical montage sequences for the movie's own good, but the expository scenes, as directed by Noam Murro and performed by the actors, nicely capture the unhurried rhythms and simple ironies of everyday life..
The cast is super with veterans Quaid, Parker, and Church who give steady and seasoned performances and it blends well with Page's witty and fresh intelligent turn.Dennis Quaid is Lawrence Wetherhold a literature professor at a Pittsburgh, PA university who's a cultured yet uptight and lonely social misfit who still misses his deceased wife.
One of the things that keeps him going is his witty and smart as could be daughter Vanessa(Ellen Page) who knows everything from politics to pop culture she also has a sharp tongue she's certainly a joy to listen to(much like Page's "Juno" character).
Much of that changes for the better thru bad fate after Lawrence suffers a concussion and once he discovers after his treatment from ER doctor Janet(Sarah Jessica Parker)that she was once an ex student a friendship develops into love.Along the way the film focuses in on each characters good points and their negatives as each learn the good and bad points along the way about one another.
The thing is, normal everyday life usually isn't all that interesting.This was sold as a comedy/drama, however very little humour was used in the film, the majority arising from Ellen Page's performance, which was easily the best of the cast.
Ditto Thomas Haden Church.Dennis Quaid is unattractive and unappealing and I couldn't believe Sarah Jessica Parker's doctor character would waste a moment of her time with him.
Dennis Quaid (surprisingly looking fat and old and worn out) is Lawrence Wetherhold, a widowed professor of literature at Carnegie Mellon, a frustrated academic writer and depressed blow hard who mistreats his students and has little control over his shaky family - SAT obsessed daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page) and smolderingly angry son (Ashton Holmes) and 'adopted brother', the hippie irresponsible Chuck (Thomas Haden Church) who mooches off Lawrence when times are down.
Dennis Quaid looked and acted precisely like the crusty English prof he was meant to be; Ellen Page was the nerdy daughter who ferociously protected her widowed father while attempting to fill her mother's shoes in running the household, at the expense of her own happiness; and Thomas Haden Church was an unexpected star.
The family was like a four legged table that was suddenly missing a leg...Church's character, the adopted wayward brother of Quaid, served as a sounding board and liaison that worked to bring them all together.The story line was thin and a throwaway but I didn't want the movie to end because I cared about the characters and wanted to see how they turned out in the end.
They were also so unlikeable (with the exception of Thomas Hayden Church's character) - Ellen Page just played an annoying version of Juno.the plot lines were just simply unbelievable and needed a lot more exposition.
The ending was contrived, trite and cheesy, completely out of line with how quaid's character was developed over the course of the film (I know this is the point, but it just wasn't realistic).I think I hated this film because it looked like the kind of indie film that I would really enjoy.
Other than that "smart is arrogant, dumb people have to teach them to have heart" overtone, it's a completely boring formula widow gets back out on the market while kids find there own way movie..
A few great laughs and moments in an otherwise dreary movie.The cast is simply fantastic from Ellen to Sarah Jessica Parker to Quaid to the very underrated but great actor Thomas Haden Church.Page just blows us away and she is not yet 20!
Dennis Quaid stars as Lawrence Whetherhold, the widowed college professor who grumps through his life until he romances the poised physician Janet Hartigan played by Sarah Jessica Parker.
Thomas Haden Church did his usual excellent job playing the wacky adoped brother and Sarah Jessica Parker was almost as good here as her role in Family Stone..
A sideways look at at household of smart people and you come away thinking that they also have dysfunctional lives.Dennis Quaid is Doctor Wetherhold a misanthropic literature professor at a Pittsburgh University.He loves literature but has lost his passion teaching it and lost his passion in writing.
Maybe because he is so up himself that no one reaches his high standard apart from his robotic, young Republican daughter who is friendless.His son who shows gift as a writer has little to do with him and Wetherhold has been living a lonely life since his wife died and would be regarded as a social misfit.When he suffers a fall Wetherhold is treated in ER by a former student (Sarah Jessica Parker) and he takes his first tentative steps to reacquaint himself with life out there.When his adopted brother (Thomas Haden Church) turns up who is a bit of a waster, he ends up chauffeuring Wetherhold around and loosens up his daughter by introducing her to drink and drugs but she has a crush on him.The film is a melodrama with some humour provided mainly by Church.
In spite of its famous cast,Smart People did not receive too much support from the distribution company Miramax,and after a short ride across a few film festivals,it was finally released on DVD without too much publicity.That is usually a very bad signal,but I think that the problem with this movie was not precisely its quality,but the strange tone from the story and the unusual characters,which do not let it to be easily qualified.I do not think this is a bad movie,but I did not find it very satisfactory either.The plot summary from this movie looks like one of those films which balance humor with drama,at the same time they teach us some truths about human nature.In other words,something like Little Miss Sunshine or Juno,but with the emphasis put on the mature male spectators.But Smart People is too pretentious and solemn for getting that satisfactory combination between humor and drama.The best element from this movie is definitely Thomas Haden Church repeating the same characters he always interprets : a rough but good-natured man who has more knowledge about humanity than all the pretentious "intellectual" people who round on him.I have to admit that Church has a lot of talent for that kind of role,so I do not care if he always repeat it.Dennis Quaid is an excellent actor,but on this movie,he does not seem to be very interested in his character.Ellen Page brings a solid performance,and her character in here is very similar to the one she made in Juno.But,as Church,it does not bother me if she repeats this kind of role,because she is very talented for it.I think there have been better movies about men facing the mature age (American Beauty and Wonder Boys are my favourite ones from this sub-genus),but in spite of being pretentious,not very satisfactory and excessively slow,Smart People deserves a slight recommendation because it does not lack of a certain grade of interest.In summary,I did not like this movie too much,but I did not dislike it either..
A very unconventional(but good) movie reminiscent of movies like "Little Miss Sunshine", "American Beauty" & of course "Juno"(not just because Ellen Page is in it), "Smart People" is a true offbeat(& funny at times) drama/comedy about a dysfunctional family and its pursuit of happiness.
Thomas Haden Church is awesome as the freewheeling, happy go-lucky adopted brother who brings a little merriment in the life of his otherwise pensive and world-weary teenage niece played by Ellen Page(who is as brilliant as she was in JUNO.
Professor Lawrence Weatherly(Dennis Quaid,keeping the "Rolled out of bed"look throughout the entire movie,it appears)walks zombie-like through his life as a Carnegie Mellon University English instructor,a widower and father to two dyspeptic kids--budding Republican anti-socialite Vanessa(Ellen Page,anti-Juno)and lifeless James(Ashton Holmes),a student at dad's university--who becomes even less personable when his un-inspired(but far from stupid)adopted brother Chuck(Thomas Haden Church,effortless and fantastic here)moves in,needing money.
It wasn't nearly as special as Juno but it was still a fun ride (for all the Ellen Page fans).Dennis Quaid played Lawrence Wetherhold, an unhappy professor, that fell off a fence trying to escape from getting stuff out of his car which was impounded.
With a title like "Smart People," you just know there's a lesson to be learned in this movie, and that it probably has something to do with people who think they're smarter than they are.Those people are Dennis Quaid, a tiresome boor of a college lit professor who nobody likes, and his equally tiresome and snarky daughter, played by Ellen Page as a young Republican version of Juno.
The dumb people who end up being smarter than the smart people are Thomas Haden Church, as a loaf of an adopted brother who has a fondness for laying around with his bare ass waving in the wind; and Sarah Jessica Parker, as an emergency room doctor and former student of Quaid's who strikes up a romance with him.
His character doesn't feel at all integrated into the movie, even though he's the one we'd rather be spending our time with."Smart People" feels like what it probably is: a movie about a very specific milieu that either the writer or director (or both) have direct and personal experience with, but that they unsuccessfully translated into a universal story that anyone could appreciate.I was on a business trip and had nothing else to do, so I was able to just go with the flow and moderately enjoy this movie, but a must-see it most certainly isn't.Grade: B-.
Dennis Quaid stars with Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church, and Ellen Page in "Smart People" from 2008.Quaid is Lawrence, a widowed literature professor living with his daughter Vanessa (Page).
Dennis Quaid, Thomas Haden Church, and Ellen Page all give really good performances here.
This movie is such a fine work in so many ways.It's just a shame that it's "downed" by the poorly worked out storyline, and some poor writing.I've seen other comments on the fact that the love interest for the prof is flimsy and managed way, way too abruptly.It just occurs to me; another commenter cites "The Accidental Tourist" as a good standard against which "Smart People" can be compared.I think a better standard would be "As Good As It Gets." The hero in "Gets" (Nickolson) is way, way more screwed up than Quaid's character.
Noam Murrow's Smart People is a formulaic film that proves my point: formulas aren't always a bad thing.Perhaps interchangeable with the character Michael Douglas played in Curtis Hanson's Wonder Boys, or even more so William Hurt's Macon Leary in The Accidental Tourist, Dennis Quaid manages to make Prof.
Thomas Haden Church and Ellen Page run the risk of becoming typecast, reprising roles far too similar to the ones they played in Sideways and Juno; yet despite the familiar terrain, their characters are the ones charged with giving Smart People its funniest moments.As you would expect, a female love interest (none other than the Horseface Queen herself) is the catalyst pushing Wetherhold to recognize a thing or two about himself before becoming a better man.
Thomas Hayden Church is the Antithesis Adopted Brother to the Family and Shows Signs of Being the Really Smart One Despite Being a Homeless Middle-Aged Slacker ("I love my life.") Sarah Jessica Parker is a Medical Doctor that is an Interloper at Christmas Dinner and is Told..."Come in we need some anti-venom in the snake pit.".
Dennis Quaid is good as the arrogant, self-absorbed professor who suffers a seizure and then takes a shot at romance with his emergency room physician and former student (Sarah Jessica Parker) -who for once is not playing her Sex & The City character.Ellen Page plays another damaged character as the professors daughter and when her uncle (Thomas Haden Church) shows up they form an interesting relationship that delivers most of the comedy here.
Ellen Page is becoming type-casted as sarcastic characters who delivers awkward punchlines after other just like in "Juno" (excellent film by the way).
But the problems here go much deeper.Smart People is first of all a love story between Dennis Quaid's Lawrence and Sarah Jessica Parker's Janet.
There were some entertaining bits, including the interaction between Thomas Haden Church and Ellen Page, and between Sarah Jessica Parker and Dennis Quaid, but as I said, I was ultimately disappointed with the end of the film..
SMART PEOPLE (2008) *** ½ Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church, Ellen Page, Ashton Holmes, Christine Lahti, Camille Mana.