Smart People (2008)

Director:

Noam Murro

Writer (WGA):

Mark Poirier (written by)

Release Date:

11 April 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Sometimes the smartest people have the most to learn

Plot:

Into the life of a widowed professor comes a new love and an unexpected visit from his adopted brother. |

Plot Keywords:

Clock | Carnegie Mellon | Dormitory | Bar | Profanity

US Showtimes:

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Cast

Dennis Quaid	...	Prof. Lawrence Wetherhold
Sarah Jessica Parker	...	Dr. Janet Hartigan
Thomas Haden Church	...	Chuck Wetherhold
Ellen Page	...	Vanessa Wetherhold
Ashton Holmes	...	James Wetherhold
Christine Lahti	...	Nancy
Camille Mana	...	Missy Chin
David Denman	...	Dr. William Strauss
Don Wadsworth	...	Hadley
Robert Haley	...	Professor Roth
Patrick Sebes	...	Curtis
Kevin James Doyle	...	Rodney
Paul Huber	...	Ben Onufrey
Iva Jean Saraceni	...	Volunteer
Richard John Walters	...	Parking Lot Attendant

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Australia:M | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | UK:15 | Ireland:15A | Canada:G (Québec) | USA:R (certificate #43519)

Filming Locations:

Allegheny General Hospital - 320 East North Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Grosvenor Park Productions

Trivia:

Rachel Weisz was originally cast opposite Dennis Quaid in this film, but she decided to leave the project. She was then replaced with Sarah Jessica Parker.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Lawrence leaves the hotel room in New York, to meet with his publisher, he's walking down the hotel corridor carrying his tie and a champagne bottle in his hand, however he doesn't remove his tie or buy the champagne until after his meeting.

Quotes:

Chuck Wetherhold: [to Lawrence] You spend $50 on dinner, that's grounds for intercourse.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2008-04-12)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Show You How

I liked it quite a bit...

I definitely enjoyed this movie, and i suspected I would when i saw that the producers of "sideways" did this movie also. Dennis Quaid played a different type of character in this movie than those you normally see him play. He did a great job in this role as a very anal and inapproachable widowed professor. His daughter, who seems to be following in daddy's footsteps (Ellen Page) did a fantastic job as well. Rounding out the dysfunctional family is the estranged adopted brother: Thomas Haden Church. I grew up on wings, which makes it no surprise that he's my favorite character in the movie. He represents the antithesis of this father/daughter combo, and completely shakes up their very private and inaccessible little world.

all in all, i gave this movie 8 stars, not 10. the reasoning behind that is that Thomas Haden Church's character seems to react in a completely different manner than one would expect, after half of the movie has passed. That's a difficult sentence to interpret, i realize. What i'm trying to say is that his character turns in a direction that doesn't seem to follow suit from what you've learned of him in the first half of the movie. Obviously there's an event that triggers this change, but it still doesn't sit well with me.

Also; I don't really see the need for the brother character, he didn't bring much of anything to the movie at all...

anyways, worth the expense to see the movie.