h33t - Smart People [2008] KLAXXON

Smart People [2008]

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Plot>>

Meet Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) A Widowed, imperiously brilliant, And Self-Absorbed Literature Professor Who Has Alienated His Son (ASHTON HOLMES) And Turned His Teenage Daughter (ELLEN PAGE) Into An Acid-Tongued, Friendless Over-Achiever. After A Hit To The Head He Falls For Doctor, And A Former Student, Janet (SARAH JESSICA PARKER), At The Same Time, His Ne'Er-Do-Well Brother (THOMAS HADEN CHURCH), Siideways) Unexpectedly Shows Up At The Door, Low On Cash And Needing A Place To Stay. The Circumstances Cause Lawrence To Stir From His Deep, Deep Freeze, With Often Comical, Sometimes Heartbreaking, Consequences For Himself And Everyone Around Him.

Sometimes the most highly intelligent individuals do the dumbest things. Smart People, a dysfunctional family comedy starring Dennis Quaid, Ellen Page, Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church, drives home that point in spades. Quaid and Page stand out in this excellent cast as a father and daughter who may have genius IQ’s -- but rate below zero in terms of their human relations skills.

Quaid (In Good Company) simply transforms himself into the character of Lawrence Wetherhold, a self-absorbed English professor who knows everything about the subject he teaches yet nothing about his students, including their names. To describe Lawrence as anti-social would be the understatement of the decade. He stays away from department meetings, uses all kinds of subterfuges to avoid one-on-one sessions with his students, and barely talks with his son (Ashton Holmes) and daughter (Ellen Page). Because Lawrence still mourns the death of his beloved wife -- even though it happened years ago -- we can’t help feeling some sympathy for him regardless of his misanthropic behavior. Page excels as Vanessa, Lawrence’s over-achieving 17-year-old daughter, and endows this young lady with a haughty attitude to match her sharp tongue. Vanessa’s main ambition involves scoring high on the SAT test. It's hard to believe she even resents being called to the Emergency Room when her father has an accident. Yes, she obviously loves him, but she’s rapidly on her way to becoming just like her dad.

Happily, change is on the way for both Lawrence and Vanessa. Into their lives come Dr. Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker), the ER physician who treats Lawrence for head trauma resulting from a fall, and Chuck Wetherhold (Thomas Haden Church), Lawrence’s down-and-out but more social “adopted brother.” After considerable thought about the problems involved, Janet falls for Lawrence and tries to help him love again. And, after seeing how lonely Vanessa is, Chuck introduces her to the real world -- but not without complicated consequences.

Although Parker (Sex and the City) and Church (Sideways) deliver fine performances here, Smart People belongs to Quaid and Page. They seem to lose themselves in their roles. Quaid’s unusual physical appearance -- beard and all -- will probably surprise his fans, and Page sheds her juvenile Juno image to portray a very different young woman. Ironically, high-school student Juno definitely seems much smarter, at least about people, than wannabe brainiac Vanessa.

Thoughtfully directed by newcomer Noam Murro from Mark Jude Poirier’s clever script, Smart People emphasizes the value of communication with those around us, especially our loved ones. It also serves as a warning about how being completely self-centered can result in missing out on the important things in life.

Have you ever had someone correct your spelling in a friendly email? Or, have you ever written or typed something only to have someone hand it back to you with red-pen corrections like some pretentious English teacher? I hate that.

These are the kind of people featured in the film “Smart People.” Instead of being a film that revels in white trash stupidity, it revels in over-intellectual stupidity. The characters in “Smart People” might have high IQs, but they are woefully inept at dealing with others in a social context.

This film follows a family of pompous windbags who lead horribly dysfunctional lives. Dennis Quaid stars as Lawrence Wetherhold, a self-important literature professor who hasn’t gotten over his wife’s death. His daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page) is an overly-ambitious girl who is more interested in career and college than having a good time.

After suffering a head injury, Lawrence discovers his doctor is a former student, and after getting over a whole bag of interpersonal problems, try to have a go at a relationship. While this is happening, Lawrence’s adopted brother Chuck (Thomas Haden Church) breezes into town and throws the family into a whirlwind. However, it is the brother of lesser intelligence that inspires both Lawrence and Vanessa to begin living their lives and not get caught up in their own airs.

The charm of “Smart People” is watching these characters squirm and eventually come out of their shells. Ellen Page shows only a modicum of range as the character of Vanessa is nothing more than a non-pregnant June. Sarah Jessica Parker comes off well, although her similar appearance in “The Family Stone” is hard to top in terms of comedies of family dysfunction. But it’s Thomas Haden Church, ironically playing the only non-smart person in the film, that really steals the show.

When it comes to pompous intellectual windbag characters, Noah Baumbach broke the mold with his wretched family in “The Squid and the Whale,” but “Smart People” comes in a close second. Director Noam Murro gets a little high on himself with looking down on everyone from academic types to college Republicans, but fortunately he spends his time behind the camera letting good actors tell a good story.

The DVD comes with a handful of deleted scenes, bloopers and interviews with the filmmakers and cast. There’s a feature commentary by director Murro and writer Mark Jude Poirier, but I wouldn’t suggest listening to it. They come across as pompous and windbaggy as the characters they’re sending up in the film.

This is very much a dysfunctional-drama-by-numbers and there's very little here you haven't seen elsewhere but it's worth seeing for a film-stealing performance by Thomas Haden Church.

Dennis Quaid plays Lawrence Wetherhold, a grumpy, bearded academic who struggles to remember his students' names and has never really recovered from the death of his wife. When he gets a concussion after an accident, he needs someone to drive him around, much to the horror of his brainy kids, university student James (Ashton Holmes) and over-achieving Young Republican, Vanessa (Ellen Page).

Fortunately, Lawrence's loser brother, Chuck (Thomas Haden Church) arrives at just the right moment and volunteers to drive Lawrence around if he can crash at their house for a while. Meanwhile, Lawrence tentatively begins a relationship with a nurse (Sarah Jessica Parker as Janet) he met at the hospital, not realising she used to be one of his students.

Ellen Page adds a slightly meaner edge to her wise-cracking Juno persona but you end up liking her more than you're expecting to, especially given that she's a Young Republican. However, the film belongs to Thomas Haden Church, who's consistently hilarious throughout.

Quaid is fine, if a little awkward (he looks like he's constipated), but there's no chemistry at all between him and Sarah Jessica Parker, which rather kills the romance element. The dysfunctional family angle, coupled with the fact that Dennis Quaid plays a bearded academic, means that Smart People is reminiscent of The Squid and the Whale, though it's neither as funny nor as moving. Indeed, the script is very much a case of dysfunctional-drama-by-numbers and there's very little here that hasn't been done better elsewhere – even Thomas Haden Church's character is basically a reprise of the role he played in Sideways.

Smart People is never less than watchable but you can't help feeling it's all been done better elsewhere. Still, it's worth seeing for Thomas Haden Church's performance.

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