Movie Thoughts On: Smart People

Smart People
Directed by: Noam Murro
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, Thomas Hayden-Church

Man, I'm getting lazy here. I've actually seen 3 movies over the last few weeks, but between sleep and school, time isn't what it used to be. That and the fact this usually only gets read by 3 people.........well, what can I say?

So, let's go back to the movie I saw 3 weeks ago. Smart People, a new film starring Dennis Quaid, Ellen Page, Sarah J Parker and Thomas Hayden-Church that's an odd blend of serious and funny. The main gist of the film is this: Quaid is an out of touch english lit professor who's patience and empathy for others is just about non-existent. He's a widower hanging onto the past raising a soon to be college student, played by Page, who has a serious case of the seriousness. She's an uber student with nothing on her mind but getting perfect grades and helping the young Republicans as much as she can. After Quaid injures himself, he's sent to a local hospital where he meets Parker, who is a former student of his whom he has no recollection of. Due to his injury, he's unable to drive himself around, but that's taken care of when his adopted brother, Hayden-Church, comes to town unannounced to basically squat with them while he moves onto his next scam of a job. Quaid hates the idea, but there's nothing he can do about it, and that's when Parker starts looking in on her old teacher, whom she may have had a crush on in the past.


Hayden-Church is the bomb

The best part of this movie is Hayden-Church. As Quaid's adopted brother, he's the comic relief, adding a much needed touch to a film that can be a bit too serious at times. Quaid is solid in his loner/out of touch man role, while Page and Parker also do a good job with what they're given, but the film isn't overtly memorable 3 weeks later. They under use Hayden-Church before his character kind of disappears for a time, due to some reasons brought on by characters in the film, but also a mistake on the director's and writer's part, in my opinion. I know he's a supporting character, but it just feels like he helped balance out things well in the scenes he was in.

Page, coming off her terrific role in Juno, is still somewhat spunky, but her character is much harsher in this, so she's much harder to get behind this time around. She still plays her part well, it's just, well, a different part. You do feel a bit for her despite her very opinionated mannerism, but her character also does some things that open you up to why she is the way she is and that she needs to become less detached from things.

I actually enjoyed the film while watching and wouldn't say it wasn't worth the watch. It's well made, the characters are interesting and enough goes on to where you want to know where things are going. It moves a bit slowly, however, and you have a hard time really liking Quaid or Page for a ways into the film, but I think it ends up pretty much where it should. The director does a good job of balancing most things, save Hayden-Church's 2nd half, and you end up seeing all the characters in a different light near the end.

Overall, I'd give it a 3 out of 5. It's worth watching, though not an instant classic, nor will it become one. But there are worse films out there.