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Smart People
Miramax Films


6.2

based on 33 reviews
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How did we calculate this?

based on 22 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 6.2 (out of 10) based on 22 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jeff P. gave it a10:
What? This is the best American film in years! The acting, directing, writing...it's all brilliant. Ellen Page is at her best, as is Sarah Jessica Parker. Dennis Quaid and Thomas Haden Church are perfect adopted brothers. It's all very subtle, which I think might be unappealing to the masses, though everyone I know who has seen it has loved it. This is not a broad comedy. It's a dark, nuanced one. Sophisticated, funny, and poignant.

muriel y. gave it a4:
Here is YET ANOTHER movie about unlikeable, miserable people who are suddenly made whole and happy by a character having a BABY! What a vile canard! What a cop-out! Why do moviemakers think that introducing an infant solves all problems? There are far too many movies lately which rely on this lame solution. That said, it was a pleasure to watch Thomas Haden Church and Ellen Page, the only live people in this dreary, slogging film, which seems leaden in spite of the intermittently witty script.

Ellen S. gave it a6:
There are really no completely likeable characters in this film, although Dennis Quaid has a remarkable ability to charm even when he’s playing a dull curmudgeon, and even, it must be said, when he has been made up to look frumpy. Sorry, female Quaid fans, I only speak truth. Tension between characters is the norm here, although it often goes unexplained, and there are key scenes that seem wildly improbable. Nevertheless, the film has its moments: Thomas Hayden Church provides much needed comic relief, and Ellen Page is very entertaining, although she is really just playing a harsher, smarter, Juno. Nothing wrong with that, though, and it is the performances that make this picture worth giving up a couple hours to spend time in the dark – if you aren’t having a very busy day.

Frank The Bunny gave it a3:
I don't walk out on many movies, but watching this dreary garbage meander on, I was starting to lose my will to live. While I thought Haden Church and Page could have developed a real chemistry, it was cut off the second it started to get interesting. As for the two leads, dull and miscast would be the polite way to put it. Less than zero chemistry, worse even than Danes and Martin in the execrable Shopgirl. The kiss scene forced my hand and I was out the door. The film had completely ground to a halt. Smart People? Boring, dreary film unable to be resuscitated. Putting Quaid in a coma would have made a story. Give it a miss.

Elizabeth H. gave it a2:
worst movie i have seen all year. felt like amateur hour...didn't make much sense...a very odd movie. Dennis Quaid, one of my favorite actors, was the oddest. Was he drunk?

Kelly B. gave it a7:
Slow start, but the story picks up and ultimately works. Page's character as a Republican is not credible, but has no adverse affects on the plot. Can Republicans be "smart people"? Perhaps, but its been awhile. All said, I enjoyed this film. My 16 year old daughter enjoyed this film, which is surprising.

Aaron F. gave it a7:
It's hard to decide what to make of this one. What it does, it does well. The real lacking part of this movie is the flow. There's very little in the way of actual climax. We almost weren't expecting the credits. It was like you were still sitting there feeling a little unfulfilled.

Smart People Miramax Films

Smart People
Miramax Films