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Smart People
Miramax Films


5.7

based on 33 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 29 votes
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MPAA RATING: R

Starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, Thomas Haden Church, Ashton Holmes, and Christine Lahti

Professor Lawrence Wetherhold might be imperiously brilliant, but when it comes to solving the conundrums of love and family, he's as downright flummoxed as the next guy. His teenage daughter is an acid-tongued overachiever who follows all too closely in dad's misery-loving footsteps, and his adopted, preposterously ne'er-do-well brother has perfected the art of freeloading. A widower who can't seem to find passion in anything anymore, not even the Victorian literature in which he's an expert, Lawrence seems to be sleepwalking through a very stunted middle age. When his brother shows up unexpectedly for an extended stay just as he accidentally encounters a former student, Janet, the circumstances stir him from his deep freeze, with often comical, sometimes heartbreaking consequences for himself and everyone around him. (Miramax)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Drama \| Romance
WRITTEN BY:	Mark Poirier
DIRECTED BY:	Noam Murro
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: August 12, 2008 Theatrical: April 11, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	95 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

TV Guide Ken Fox

A sharp, superbly acted character-driven comedic drama.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Smart People, unlike "Sideways" or "The Savages," has a plot that's a little too rote.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

After its rough opening, Smart People settles down to be a funny, wryly enjoyable, effortlessly poignant parable of family life and a splendid showcase for its cast -- especially Page, who handily steals the movie and proves that her "Juno" success was no fluke.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Page and Church work so brilliantly together as a comic team that it's worth enduring the leads' utter lack of chemistry together - not to mention the fact they're both wildly miscast.

Time Richard Schickel

There's nothing world shattering about Smart People. No one is ever going to call it a "must see" movie. But it is a trim, intelligent, reasonably amusing little movie. Call it a "could see."

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

A good deal of the freshness comes from a grand, clownish slob played by Thomas Haden Church -- he's actually the smartest person of the piece -- while Dennis Quaid occupies the center with a mastery that's all the more notable for its humanity.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Poirer and director Noam Murro have trouble bringing this to a satisfying climax, but the characters are credible and sharply observed and all four actors go to town.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Poirier is a master at dialogue. His script crackles with sharp lines and he gives all his scenes a splendid comic undertow.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

It's the kind of observational comedy, that'll be hard to find come summertime and should be enjoyed while there's still a chance.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The great virtue of Smart People, attributable to Noam Murro’s easygoing direction as well as to Mr. Poirier’s wandering screenplay, lies in its general preference for small insights over grand revelations.

The New Yorker David Denby

These small-scale, intelligent movies can fall into a trap: it’s hard to achieve a satisfactory dramatic climax when observation is your principal dramatic mode.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

There much more roiling beneath the surface of these characters and it's a shame we don't come to understand them better. Smart people, dumb choices: it's true for both the characters and the filmmakers.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

Dennis Quaid could stand in for Jeff Daniels' similarly toxic snob in "The Squid And The Whale," if only he were a little smarter and a little better-dressed.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

A third of the way through Smart People, I channeled Randy Newman's "Short People" and thought, "Smart people got no reason to live."

ReelViews James Berardinelli

The main problem with Smart People is that it never breaks new ground. This is territory we have seen tilled to better effect by more perceptive motion pictures.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Though it features witty dialogue and good performances, the plot contrivances keep it from being an altogether winning enterprise.

Slate Dana Stevens

As tough as Lawrence is to like, Smart People is even harder to hate, mainly because of the sharply observed script by novelist Mark Jude Poirier. Just when you're losing patience with the movie, it sneaks up on you with a poignant detail or a character-defining turn of phrase.

Film Threat Zack Haddad

It is just too bad that this film isn’t as snarky and groundbreaking as it would like you to think it is.

Variety Dennis Harvey

Dysfunctional family seriocomedy is well cast, but characters and conflicts lack the sharper definition of similar recent exercises like "Little Miss Sunshine," "The Upside of Anger" and Noah Baumbach's films.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

The ensemble can't bring enough, though, to overcome the unoriginal setup and predictable story arc.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Fine actors do their damnedest to make this dumb movie look sharp.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

The movie gets bogged down in the formula conventions of romantic comedy, and in the process, it loses all honesty.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Smart People tastes as fake as a Wal-Mart corn dog. Besides, it doesn't even know the work is Faerie Queen, not ''Fairie.'' Somewhere, Edmund Spenser is turning in his grave. You don't even have to be smart to know that.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

The middling romantic comedy Smart People, which centers on a hyperintellectual dysfunctional family, is of interest chiefly for the first post-Juno role of Ellen Page.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

It's impossible to tell whether the film's ending is happy because it's happy or because it's ending.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Quaid doesn't have much to work with, and so deflects the portrayal away from the mind toward the body – consistently giving the coot a hunched, pigeon-toed gait. Nice try, but that bird won't fly.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Church is most at home in his character’s skin; aside from the game but strident Quaid, all the leading players are ideally cast. It’s the script that isn’t ideally cast.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Mostly, Smart People is a failure of imagination.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Quaid and Church are funny, but too much of this film is not half as smart as it thinks it is.

Village Voice Robert Wilonsky

It's like the entire season of a sitcom whittled down to a single episode. There's no time for characterization, no room for emotion, no interest in anything other than moving the story forward. It's all action, no reaction. One minute they're miserable; 90 minutes later, aww better.

Empire Helen O'Hara

Strong performances and a few laughs, but the story feels lazy next to superior efforts recently in the same genre.

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

In what world does Smart People exist? Clearly not the real one, though this dramedy wants to think it's filled with ironic insights about love and family.

Premiere Ryan Stewart

Dennis Quaid is mostly lost at sea as Lawrence Wetherhold, the Carnegie Mellon lit professor; he apparently saw fit to tinker with his performance as filming went along, greeting us in some scenes as a noticeably swishy highbrow, while at other moments he's channeling the smiling, drunken menace of Nicholson's Jack Torrance.

The average user rating for this movie is 5.7 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Craig A. gave it an8:
Coming of middle-age drama about a university professor who begins the film as an overgrown infant and ends it as every student's favorite lecturer.

Trevor gave it a3:
Really disappointed me. The premise has great potential, but the characters are mostly unlikeable. There is no chemistry between the leads, and Dennis Quaid comes off more like a semi-retarded, old pervert than a misunderstood, grumpy genius. Several plot devices are very cliched, and the ending is pretty much as cheesy as you can get.

martin l gave it a2:
terrible movie. I didn't even care how it ended, I just couldn't wait to pop that f*cking disgrace out of my dvd player. It try so hard to seem as if it doesn't need to try. It try so hard to prove how funny it can be under the unusual circumstances of not wanting to be funny. There is absolutely nothing relatable about these characters- and the only people who can relate wouldn't dare want to. Page as the smartass teenage, Church as the goofball, and Quaid as the uptight father- how groundbreaking. I suppose there are worse movies, if you dig deep, but do not see this movie. Don't waste your time. It seems like 5 hours of hell. Except there is not the enjoyable experience of watching it fall and crumble like some films. It just simply never stood up. ...make that 5 hours of purgatory.

Jeff C. gave it a1:
The WORST rental I have endured in a while.... Embarrassing for everyone involved. I had high hopes coming from the SIDEWAYS crew... but this was a stinker. A series of "we have to talk" moments stuck together with a soundtrack that tried to bring some kind of drama that the script couldn't. Character driven? .... into the ditch.

Jay H. gave it a6:
A witty film and well acted by all, especially Thomas Haden Church. It does drag occasionally, but the there is always Ellen Page to perk things up. Nicely done, but not outstanding.

Ogest gave it an8:
I really liked this movie, interesting story. Ellen Page did an excellent job in this movie. The jokes really appealed to me, since I like that kind of humor. Everyone who liked "Juno" should watch this movie.

Micky J. gave it a10:
Loved it. Because of the cast and maybe the marketing, people were expecting something other than the intelligent, thoughtful, and intimate dark comedy that this is. Amazing performances from all the leads, sharp writing, and top-notch directing make this one of the best films of 2008.

Smart People Miramax Films

Smart People
Miramax Films