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Smart People
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C+ |
Smart people. We all know 'em, we all hate 'em. Constantly
looming over us with their superior intellect and fancy degrees.
They make us regular schmoes look bad! You know the type, right?
Well now they've gone and made a whole movie about 'em! I'll
bet you're wondering whether or not you need to be smart to
watch this film. No? It didn't receive much attention so that
thought didn't even occur to you? Well that's good, because
it isn't so much a smart movie, as it is a movie about smart
people; hence the title.
Dennis Quaid plays Lawrence Whetherhold (smart), a college professor
trying to get his book published with pitiable results, and
is rendered unable to drive after an accident breaking into
a car impound. Doesn't sound too smart to me. Lucky for him,
his "adopted brother" Chuck (dumb), is in town and
volunteers to be his personal chauffeur. He grudgingly accepts
when his daughter Vanessa (smart) refuses. Oh, and there's also
his son James (dumb) who is more or less useless. Anyway, so
we have two smart people and two dumb people, and no medium.
This is where Janet Hartigan (smart), played by Sarah Jessica
Parker, comes in. She acts as sort of the middle ground, a lynch
pin that could possibly hold this dysfunctional family together,
mainly by being smart but not so obsessed with her own genius
as to neglect others. Unfortunately she gets a bit nutty near
the end.
The comedy in Smart People is sparse but satisfying, centering
mostly around the clash of personalities between the smart and
stupid characters. Thomas Hayden Church steals the show unsurprisingly
(does he have to show his butt in every movie he's in?), and
Sarah Jessica Parker was just annoying. Can any women tell me
why she got so upset in the end? I was so confused! But that
about sums it up. It has its high points, and it has it's low
points. Worth at least a rent.
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N/A |
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