Smart People From:Dennis Quaid , Sarah Jessica Parker , Thomas Haden Church , Ellen Page , Ashton Holmes , Buena Vista Home Video , Noam Murro , Miramax ,
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
EAN: 0786936755916
Format: AC-3
Format: Color
Format: Dolby
Format: DVD-Video
Format: Subtitled
Format: Widescreen
Format: NTSC
Weight: 25 hundredths-pounds
Label: Miramax
Manufacturer: Miramax
Number Of Items: 1
Packaged Height: 58 hundredths-inches
Packaged Length: 710 hundredths-inches
Packaged Weight: 18 hundredths-pounds
Packaged Width: 542 hundredths-inches
Publisher: Miramax
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-08-12
Running Time: 95 minutes
Studio: Miramax
Theatrical Release Date: 2008-04-11
Product Description:
From the producer of SIDEWAYS -- get to know a lovable yet dysfunctional family everyone can relate to in this lighthearted comedy PEOPLE (Leah Rozen) calls "smart and enjoyable." When Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) -- a widowed and self-absorbed professor -- falls for his attractive former student (Sex And The City's Sarah Jessica Parker) his all-too-predictable life suddenly turns sunny side up. That is until his freeloading brother (Thomas Haden Church) and his sharp-tongued overachieving daughter (Juno's Ellen Page)speak up making "chaos" the word of the day. Now on DVD SMART PEOPLE is even funnier with never-before-seen interviews deleted scenes and hilarious outtakes.System Requirements:Running Time: 95 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/BUDDY FILMS Rating: R UPC: 786936755916 Manufacturer No: 5650603
Customer Reviews:
 Not dramatic, funny, or smart, 2008-09-03
"Smart People", written by Mark Poirier and directed by Noam Murro.
Professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is a miserable widower. His job as a Literature professor has become unfulfilling as the position of head of the English department has eluded him as has appreciation of him by his co-workers and students. Lawrence levels condescension at most as he swaggers about in the confidence of his self perceived intellectual superiority. Lawrence's adopted brother Chuck (Thomas Haden Church) shows up needing to borrow money and is quickly rebuffed. After a turn of events Lawrence winds up in the hospital and cannot drive for 6 months at which point he begrudgingly accepts Chuck's offer to be his chauffeur and also attempts to begin a new romance with now doctor and former student Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker)...
"Smart People" was a complete dud. It seemed to attempt to emulate in ways and ride off of the success of movies like "Sideways (Widescreen Edition)" but failed miserably. It is a shame as I have liked most of what Haden Church and Ellen Page have done.
The Good: The acting was solid all around. I didn't have any problems with look of the movie.
The Bad: Story / plot. One of the first mistakes is focus is spread too thin. Instead of the story focusing on Lawrence's relationship with his family or his adopted brother or his professional life, or his relationship with Dr. Hartigan it tries to focus on all of them which leaves the movie basically out of focus. The character follows a typical path that leads to self evolution which is demonstrated with the subtlety of a hurricane. I won't give away how but you are watching the movie and the event happens and you are thinking "well the evolution has happened'.
Characters: One of the main failings of this movie is the main character. In "Sideways" you can at least empathize with the Miles character even if you don't appreciate him. I couldn't find anything to like, or appreciate about the Wetherhold character. The character is so pompous and so sure that an education concerning literature is the only one of importance that he even condescends to a Doctor who runs the ER. Sarah Jessica Parker's character is also a problem. The 2 character are either unlikable, unbelievable or both.
The score was also a problem for me. When doing a movie like this the score is critical in helping to carry the underlying emotion of the characters. Here we get a repetitive acoustic guitar riff that only implies melancholy and nothing else until the very end. It was repetitive, boring and didn't convey anything new as it repeated over and again.
Overall: If you are a smart person, you won't waste your time on this one.
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