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Mood:
- CleverHumorousTouchingContemplativeSentimentalWittyBittersweet
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Plot:
- Parents and ChildrenMind and SoulCouplesFamily RelationsIntrospectionSelf DiscoveryCouple RelationsSiblings Relations more...
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Genres:
- ComedyDramaRomanceIndependent
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Time/Period:
- Contemporary21st Century
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Place:
- PittsburghUSA
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Attitudes:
- Semi SeriousRealistic
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Flag:
- Drugs/AlcoholProfanity
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Smart People, 2008
English, Spanish
USA
Profile of Smart People
Smart People can be described as clever, touching, and humorous. The plot revolves around parents and children, family relations, and couples. The main genres are drama, comedy, and independent. In approach, Smart People is realistic. It is located in Pittsburgh. It takes place in contemporary times. Note that Smart People involves drugs/alcohol and profanity.
Summary of Smart People
Dennis Quaid stars as a bitter, washed out widower in Smart People, a film that tackles the lives of several seriously unhappy people in surprisingly funny and touching ways. A hated literature professor at Carnegie Mellon, Lawrence Wetherhold has been earning the scorn of his students, colleagues, and family since the death of his wife several years ago. The only person on his side is his teenage daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page), whose loyalty and similarities to her father belie her tender age. Between running the Young Republicans club and aiming for a perfect SAT score, the over-achieving high school student knows no life beyond the insular world of family. When the film begins, the family dynamics are well established, with Lawrence merely going through the motions of his life, unable to muster up any passion for parenting or even his literary expertise. It takes a seizure, an unexpected visit from his adopted brother (Thomas Haden Church), and a new romantic interest (Sarah Jessica Parker) to shake things up and stir Lawrence from his constant misery.
Driven by a clever script and fine performances, Smart People is set in the land of academia, a place where both Lawrence and Vanessa have taken refuge and plunged themselves into as escape from the external world. In spite of their high IQs, both father and daughter are equally clueless when it comes to navigating relationships. This becomes obvious as Vanessa develops a line-blurring relationship with her uncle, and Lawrence stumbles in romancing his doctor. If Vanessa wants a shot at happiness and Lawrence wants to make things work in his love life, both will have to adopt new attitudes or risk further alienation. Church is hilarious as Chuck, Lawrence's adopted slacker brother, adding a funny but heartfelt element to the otherwise serious film.
Details
| Language: | English, Spanish |
| Country: | USA |
| Release date: | 20 January 2008 |
| Runtime: | 95 min |
Cast and Crew
as Lawrence Wetherhold
as Janet Hartigan
as Chuck Wetherhold
as Vanessa Wetherhold
Photos
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Critics Reviews
TV Guide
- |
- by: Ken Fox
The Hollywood Reporter
- |
- by: Kirk Honeycutt
Users Reviews
- 11.September.2010
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- by: Nooshi N.
- Nooshi N. rated this movie
0/10
- 09.April.2010
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- by: Keith
- Keith rated this movie2/10Bad
