Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is an English professor at Carnegie Mellon University. His aura of superiority keeps colleagues at a distance, squashing any possibility of relationships other than professional. He customarily parks his car in the faculty lot so that it occupies two spots. He loves his subject, but never really connects with his students, whose names and faces he seldom remembers.
Wetherhold's wife has passed away. His son, James (Ashton Holmes), although a student at Carnegie Mellon, lives in a dorm and keeps his distance, while his daughter, Vanessa (Ellen Page), still in high school, takes it upon herself to keep the home fires burning. She appears to be very much her dad's girl: clever, casting a wide swath of attitude, and often supercilious. Yet she hopes to be accepted to Stanford University, on the opposite side of the country.
In a fit of ill temper, Wetherhold knocks himself unconscious and lands in the hospital, where ER physician Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker) happens to be a former student of his. Because he's diagnosed as having had a minor seizure, Dr. Hartigan tells Wetherhold he cannot legally drive. Reluctantly, the professor asks visiting adopted brother Chuck (Thomas Haden Church) to stick around, move in temporarily, and serve as his driver.
We've seen self-important academics on screen before in such films as "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," "The Paper Chase," and "The Squid and the Whale." In "Smart People," Quaid's Wetherhold is uptight, socially awkward, and condescending toward those he openly regards as his intellectual inferiors. Yet we continue to care about him, understanding that the loss of his wife may have taken more of a toll than Wetherhold will acknowledge and hoping he will loosen up and become more of a mensch.
Quaid holds the film together with a solid, carefully textured performance -- one of his best. There is a sadness he carries with him like a knapsack filled with rocks, and he seldom smiles. His rumpled hair, scruffy beard, and deeply lined face give him the appearance of a guy who has abandoned even simple attempts to make himself look presentable. This is superior character acting, revealing a depth of emotion despite a facade of officiousness. Not an easy trick to pull off.
Church is a welcome joy in "Smart People," as he amusingly contrasts with his older brother. Though he is in many ways immature and irresponsible, Chuck has basic smarts that are especially sharp when it comes to human relationships. It's Chuck who navigates an unusual relationship with Vanessa, stepping back to become her uncle rather than confidante when a hint of romance is about to ignite. Chuck also eggs Lawrence on to pursue a relationship with Dr. Janet. Church's Chuck has many elements of his sidekick to Paul Giamatti in "Sideways," but the role is less showy, more subdued, and ultimately very effective.
Parker's Dr. Hartigan seems a major plot manipulation. As Wetherhold's student, she had a crush on him. Now, as his doctor, we're meant to accept that she still feels a glow toward him. She is more than patient with his incredible ineptness on a date, and keeps giving him second chances to redeem himself and shine in her eyes. This is more the stuff of a "Lifetime" made-for-TV movie than reality.
Ellen Page's Vanessa is really a variation of her title character in "Juno." She's bright, mature, at a crossroads in her life, and feels she is losing control of her destiny. Both Juno and Vanessa are casual optimists until they face a crisis. For Vanessa, it is Dr. Hartigan, whom she regards as a threat to her role as unofficial caretaker of her dad's well being.
Rated R, "Smart People" is a gentle film that balances personal drama with comedy. Director Noam Murro has transformed Mark Poirier's screenplay into a look at a dysfunctional family that never delves into terribly dark corners. All the characters evolve, perhaps not in 180-degree fashion, but mostly for the better.

Smart People was a wonderful surprise. Great acting and great writing. Thomas Haden Church is amazing as Chuck, and his relationship with Ellen Page's character Vanessa is both hilarious and touching--not to mention utterly original. A great change of pace for Dennis Quaid, too. First time I've seen a grouchy English professor portrayed so realistically. I liked how this film was both intimate and specific but also universal in its themes. Well done.

A gander at some of the major reviews (New Times, LA Times, and Wall Street Journal) revealed that critics loved it. Where have I been? Why hadn't I heard much about this? Ellen Page and Thomas Haden Church deserve Oscar noms for this one.

THe movie is pretty good.
Fast delivery and that was the best price I could find.
Definitely worth it!

Version: U.S.A / Region-A
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / High Profile 4.1
Running time: 1:34:51
Movie size: 24,03 GB
Disc size: 27,92 GB
Average video bit rate: 24.05 Mbps
Number of chapters: 16

LPCM Audio English 6912 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 24-bit / 6912kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48kHz / 640kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48kHz / 192kbps

Subtitles; English SDH / French / Spanish

#Audio commentary
#9 deleted scenes
#Bonus trailers
#Featurette
-The Smartest People
-Not So Smart outtakes

Dennis Quaid plays an English professor so pompous and self-contained that the unpleasant odor of mothballs must emanate off that tweed jacket he wears. Stuck. Stuck in a past when his wife died and he became a widower. Stuck in a career where he allows no growth for himself. Smart people.

His daughter, a pompous and bombastic smart person, is a brainiac headed to Stanford. Her uncle pretty much defines her as a robotic android. The uncle and adopted brother comes into the story early on. A n'e'r-do-well who enjoys muddling through life, he, too, is one of the "smart people." He uses his intelligence to become the an unintentional nudge for change for the daughter.

Then there's the son, now a student at the same college where his dad doggedly teaches. Dr. Wetherhold most likely uses the same notes prepared the first time he delivered the lecture. Words just billow from him like smoke and not living things to be savored with others--his students. He holds their essays in as much disdain. During the course of the story he positions himself to be named the head of the English department.

The pivotal point of the story is the doctor who treats Lawrence in the emergency room and grounds him from driving for six months (actually in retaliation for a C he assigned one of her essays written ten years earlier when she was his student and originally an English major.)

They go out to eat. After he delivers a 45-minute soliloquy about Victorian literature, she interrupts to tell him what a stuffed windbag he is and leaves.

All these people live in a grim reality of unrequited happiness, acceptance of the status quo, and inertia to change anything. Little by little, life intercedes. There's a miracle that changes everything.

"Smart People" is about smart people, but not as a positive attribute. To take pride in being smart and not extending beyond oneself is the height of selfishness. Some thinkers would say this is good, but the characters in this story don't even know they are lost in a maze of the thick muck of conceit and the supercilious. However, when two smart people collide and a tiny spark flickers, anything can happen.