2008 Woodie Awards
the reel critic
Jason Guitierrez
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: Arts
MOVIE | Smart People
DIRECTOR | Noam Murro
STARRING | Dennis Quaid, Thomas Hayden Church and Ellen Page
The marketing team at Miramax touted their latest release, "Smart People" as being a creation "from the makers of Sideways." I loved "Sideways," so this little marketing ploy was enough to ensnare me. The problem is that when they said, "from the makers of Sideways" what they really meant was "from the producer of Sideways and also starring Thomas Hayden Church." Well, if a studio chooses to market their film like this they are inevitably going to invite comparisons and the truth is that "Smart People" doesn't hold a candle to "Sideways."
Dennis Quaid plays pretentious, aloof and hated Carnegie Mellon professor of literature Lawrence Wetherhold. His wife died several years earlier and he managed to get himself stuck in a rut of disdain for his colleagues, students and misery in general. The only real constants in his life are his budding young Republican daughter, Vane (Ellen Page) and his scornful son. This all changes when, after suffering a seizure while trying steal his car back from the campus impound, he meets the lovely and charming Dr. Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker). She kindly informs the cantankerous professor that, as a result of his seizure, he is unable to drive for the next six months. This revelation, somewhat fortuitously, coincides with the arrival of his layabout brother (the aforementioned Thomas Hayden Church) who has run out of money and needs a place to stay. As one would expect, these characters all work together to bring Dennis Quaid out of his shell, while changing one another in the process.
"Smart People" is a rather unfortunate case of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. The performances by Parker and Quaid are subdued, but still have an air of quirky about them that ensures that the film doesn't feel heavy. However, they are upstaged at every turn by the immeasurably better performances turned in by Thomas Hayden Church and Ellen Page. The scenes between the two save the film from being unwatchable. Church, who is the embodiment of quirky, plays off the uptight, Nancy Reagan-in-training Ellen Page perfectly. Page, in particular, needs special recognition. Her range as an actress is impressive - she manages to walk the tightrope between prissy know-it-all and lonely teenager yearning for excitement with incredible panache and skill. She has proven herself to be an actress that can stand apart from the irritating title character of "Juno" and does more than simply hold her own alongside the likes of Church and Quaid.
DIRECTOR | Noam Murro
STARRING | Dennis Quaid, Thomas Hayden Church and Ellen Page
The marketing team at Miramax touted their latest release, "Smart People" as being a creation "from the makers of Sideways." I loved "Sideways," so this little marketing ploy was enough to ensnare me. The problem is that when they said, "from the makers of Sideways" what they really meant was "from the producer of Sideways and also starring Thomas Hayden Church." Well, if a studio chooses to market their film like this they are inevitably going to invite comparisons and the truth is that "Smart People" doesn't hold a candle to "Sideways."
Dennis Quaid plays pretentious, aloof and hated Carnegie Mellon professor of literature Lawrence Wetherhold. His wife died several years earlier and he managed to get himself stuck in a rut of disdain for his colleagues, students and misery in general. The only real constants in his life are his budding young Republican daughter, Vane (Ellen Page) and his scornful son. This all changes when, after suffering a seizure while trying steal his car back from the campus impound, he meets the lovely and charming Dr. Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker). She kindly informs the cantankerous professor that, as a result of his seizure, he is unable to drive for the next six months. This revelation, somewhat fortuitously, coincides with the arrival of his layabout brother (the aforementioned Thomas Hayden Church) who has run out of money and needs a place to stay. As one would expect, these characters all work together to bring Dennis Quaid out of his shell, while changing one another in the process.
"Smart People" is a rather unfortunate case of the whole being less than the sum of its parts. The performances by Parker and Quaid are subdued, but still have an air of quirky about them that ensures that the film doesn't feel heavy. However, they are upstaged at every turn by the immeasurably better performances turned in by Thomas Hayden Church and Ellen Page. The scenes between the two save the film from being unwatchable. Church, who is the embodiment of quirky, plays off the uptight, Nancy Reagan-in-training Ellen Page perfectly. Page, in particular, needs special recognition. Her range as an actress is impressive - she manages to walk the tightrope between prissy know-it-all and lonely teenager yearning for excitement with incredible panache and skill. She has proven herself to be an actress that can stand apart from the irritating title character of "Juno" and does more than simply hold her own alongside the likes of Church and Quaid.
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