Smart People

R

Released Apr 11, 2008

1 hr. 34 min.

Romance

Comedy

Drama

List

50%

151 Reviews

Tomatometer

39%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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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Critics Consensus

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

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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

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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

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Noam Murro

Director

Dennis Quaid

Lawrence Wetherhold

Sarah Jessica Parker

Janet

Thomas Haden Church

Chuck

Elliot Page

Vanessa

Ashton Holmes

James

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Kevin Craft

Miami Herald

Unfortunately, Smart People has nothing original to say about its characters' dilemmas, but is content to tread waters that previous films have navigated with more humor and insight.

Rated: 1/4

Apr 6, 2015

Full Review

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

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

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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
Executive Producer: Jennifer Roth, Omar Amanat, Steffen Aumueller, Marina Grasic, Kenneth Orkin, Edward Rugoff, Bill Block, Paul Hanson
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
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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