Smart People

Name: Smart People
Genre: Drama, Comedy, Romance
Released: April 11, 2008
Duration: 95 min
Rating: 57
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Thomas Haden Church

2008

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Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 81 Ratings

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7.5	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 81 Ratings

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Smart People

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Movie Details & Credits

Miramax Films | Release Date: April 11, 2008 | R

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Thomas Haden Church

Summary: 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 brotherProfessor 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]… Expand

Director: Noam Murro

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy, Romance

Rating: R

Runtime: 95 min

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Critic Reviews

TV Guide Magazine Ken Fox

A sharp, superbly acted character-driven comedic drama. Read full review

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. Read full review

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. Read full review

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. Read full review

Wesley Morris

Mostly, Smart People is a failure of imagination. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

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

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. Read full review

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User Reviews

MickyJ.

Jul 8, 2008

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.