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Smart People

R Released Apr 11, 2008 1h 34m Romance Comedy Drama List
50% Tomatometer 151 Reviews 39% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
Acerbic, selfish and widowed, literature professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is estranged from his son and his overachieving teenage daughter. Just as he begins a relationship with a former student (Sarah Jessica Parker), Lawrence's ne'er-do-well adoptive brother (Thomas Haden Church) lands on his doorstep. Lawrence realizes he must make some changes in his life and reconnect with his children in order to get on with his life.
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Smart People

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Critics Consensus

Despite its sharp cast and a few laughs, Smart People is too thinly plotted to fully resonate.

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Critics Reviews

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Ben Kenigsberg Time Out Rated: 3/5 Nov 17, 2011 Full Review Cath Clarke Guardian Smarter than your average romantic comedy it may be, but this family-dysfunction indie is playing it a bit safe. Rated: 3/5 Oct 18, 2008 Full Review Helen O'Hara Empire Magazine Strong performances and a few laughs, but the story feels lazy next to superior efforts recently in the same genre. Rated: 2/5 May 16, 2008 Full Review Jason Best What's On TV You know the [title] must be double edged; it just has to be an ironic cue for a tale about folk with stratospherically high IQs but with emotional intelligence that would shame an amoeba. Nov 12, 2020 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com Perfectly cast, intelligently written, and a nicely paced blend of humor and heart. Rated: 3.0/4.0 Sep 23, 2020 Full Review Felicia Feaster Charleston City Paper Murro tends to deal in surfaces. It's hard to get a sense of the human beings beneath the cardboard facades. Jan 28, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Christopher B Smart People could have been a "smart" film but it instead squanders its talent and the screenplay leaves much to be desired. What could have been either a good drama or comedy film, "Smart People" is simply a slow moving and desperate story of miserable people. These characters know their issues but also are under the impression that they can't change and these situations make up a bulk of the story. It's not until the closing frames we see any real attempt at some revelation on the part of our main protagonist. What this means is that we are left with a character who simply is arrogant and conceited and the price he must pay in his relationships isn't overly meditative or amusing in any way. Instead of a smart and entertaining film dealing with the deeply emotional impacts of behavior on relationships and changing for the betterment of said relationships and instead the viewer is left with a contrived mess. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/22/22 Full Review Audience Member I love this film. I thought it accurately captured a family of intellectuals who may be academically smart, but have low emotional IQs. The writing was both witty and sensitive. I thought the casting was right on. It showed the development of all the characters quite well and how it resulted from Thomas Hayden Church's character showing up. His character quietly pushed them into dealing with their emotions. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review steve d Strong performances and engaging script with an especially standout performance from Page. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Look, this is smart and funny with some really good acting. What do you want from a Rom-com? Get off your high horses - relax and give yourself a break. It's okay to enjoy a film that is less than genius. These are hard times we are living through. If this Indy film came out today it would probably get 4 stars because the rest of the stuff on streaming is sooo bad. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Just a weird paced boring drama, too typical and boring. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review frank s The characters interacted very well together. Although the plot(s) were pretty simple, they kept going and were interesting to watch. Well done. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Smart People

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Cast & Crew

Win Win 94% 85% Win Win Cyrus 80% 53% Cyrus Lola Versus 36% 31% Lola Versus Then She Found Me 51% 43% Then She Found Me Greenberg 77% 42% Greenberg Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Acerbic, selfish and widowed, literature professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is estranged from his son and his overachieving teenage daughter. Just as he begins a relationship with a former student (Sarah Jessica Parker), Lawrence's ne'er-do-well adoptive brother (Thomas Haden Church) lands on his doorstep. Lawrence realizes he must make some changes in his life and reconnect with his children in order to get on with his life.
Director
Noam Murro
Producer
Bridget Johnson, Michael Costigan, Michael London, Bruna Papandrea
Screenwriter
Mark Jude Poirier
Distributor
Miramax Films
Production Co
Groundswell Productions
Rating
R (Brief Teen Drug Use|Brief Teen Alcohol Use|Language|Some Sexuality)
Genre
Romance, Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 11, 2008, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$9.5M
Runtime
1h 34m
Sound Mix
Dolby SRD, DTS
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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