Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This was not a great movie, not by any stretch. I kept waiting for it to get good and it never did. Don't let them fool you into thinking your time spent watching this will be rewarded with anything of any value because it is simply not here. The cast lured me in because I enjoy all of them and they are all lovely people but this movie somehow just never came together. It is my opinion that I could have spent this time better cleaning the oven or some other dreaded task. I only came here to try to save you the same fate that I encountered. Use the time for something else like checking the tire pressure on every household item. Clean out the fridge perhaps? But do not waste the time I did on this.

Dennis Quaid stars with Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church, and Ellen Page in "Smart People" from 2008.Quaid is Lawrence, a widowed literature professor living with his daughter Vanessa (Page). He doesn't seem happy teaching and his students aren't crazy about him - in fact, when he goes someplace, it's hard for him to get anything done because the person waiting on him is often a student who got a D in his class. He is attempting to have a book published, but it's being turned down by everyone.One day, his adopted brother (Church) drops in for an extended stay. He sees that his niece is a wallflower, very focused on her studies, so he tries to loosen her up a little by taking her to clubs.When Lawrence is refused entry into a parking lot because he has no receipt, he climbs the fence because he needs his briefcase. On the way out, he crashes to the ground and winds up in the hospital. There he meets a pretty nurse, Janet (Parker) and the two tentatively start to date. She also received a lousy mark in his class. Is he going to let himself be happy? Are any of them?This is an off-beat film that kind of rolls along without a lot of direction, but I still liked it. I have loved Thomas Haden Church since Sideways, and he has some fabulous dialogue. Ellen Page is excellent as the daughter - intelligent, straightforward, blunt, and unhappy. Quaid is very good as the aimless, needy Lawrence who makes a stab at finding his way despite his ups and downs with Janet."Smart People" is a feel-good film but not in a stereotypical way. The characters have real conflicts and problems for which there are no easy fixes. And they are all very likable. A good film to see.

This is a comparatively slow-moving film which takes time to explore what teaching for a long time in a university can do to some professors, and what roles single parenting can sometimes mistakenly dissolve into for both parents and their children.The role of the long-suffering, self-contained, in need of renewal/sabbatical/analysis professor was particularly well- written and acted: Dennis Quaid did a great job in this film and, as a viewer, I rarely remembered that he was acting: his demeanor, his stance, his wardrobe, his droning voice--even his eye contact--were just right.As usual, Haden-Church was the actor who made the movie zing. His "just one step out of this dimension" attitude and usual attention to perfection in his acting was a delight. He's one of our great character actors.Ellen Page compels the viewer to watch her delightful portrayal--though I am not yet willing to concede that she is one with her role yet. I continue to enjoy watching her thorough and she is going to be a great actress.I recommend this film highly for thoughtful viewers who enjoy digging into time, place and characters. It's pace is not brisk, but its rewards are great.

A low-budget comedy/drama set in and around the city of Pittsburgh, "Smart People" is so muted and laidback in its demeanor and tone that it practically borders on the innocuous. Yet, it is just that seeming banality that makes the movie work in the long run.A pot-bellied Dennis Quaid plays a snarling, insensitive English Literature professor who's pretty much gone to seed in both his personal and professional life, a character not too far removed from the one played by Michael Caine in "Educating Rita." Lawrence Wetherhold is still so devastated by the death of his wife that he keeps all her clothes hanging in the bedroom closet as a sort of unholy shrine to the dearly departed woman. Needless to say, Lawrence hasn't made any great strides moving on with his life - until, that is, he strikes up a tentative romance with a physician and former student of his (Sarah Jessica Parker) who helps him to begin that too long delayed process of reconnecting himself to the world.There's nothing particularly original or earth-shattering in this umpteenth tale of a burnt-out teacher finding a renewal of commitment and purpose in his profession, but writer Mark Poirier has provided enough in the way of ancillary details of character and plotting to at least keep matters interesting.Ellen Page, for instance, plays Lawrence's overly possessive daughter, Vanessa, a college-bound Young Republican who's more obsessed with earning a perfect score on her SATs than with establishing meaningful friendships with people her own age. Thomas Hayden Church portrays her adoptive Uncle Chuck, a black sheep wastrel who, in point of contrast, makes even Lawrence look like a paragon of togetherness and success. Yet, despite his own troubles and failings, Chuck is the one who tries to get his niece to loosen up a bit and finally start enjoying life.Together these characters drift through life, making wry observations on their situations and relationships on their way to a happy ending.There may be a few too many musical montage sequences for the movie's own good, but the expository scenes, as directed by Noam Murro and performed by the actors, nicely capture the unhurried rhythms and simple ironies of everyday life.