Friday, April 11, 2008

Movie review: Smart People

In which Ellen Page plays a model Young Republican.

By John P. Meyer

Smart People

Professor Lawrence Wetherhold might be imperiously brilliant, monumentally self-possessed and an intellectual giant--but when it comes to solving the conundrums of love and family, he's as downright flummoxed as the next guy. His teenaged daughter is an acid-tongued overachiever who follows all too closely in dad's misery-loving footsteps, and his adopted, preposterously ne'er-do-well brother has perfected the art of freeloading. A widower who can't seem to find passion in anything anymore, not even the Victorian literature in which he's an expert, it seems Lawrence is sleepwalking through a very stunted middle age. When his brother shows up unexpectedly for an extended stay at just about the same time as he accidentally encounters his former student, the circumstances cause him to stir from his deep, deep freeze, with often comical, sometimes heartbreaking, consequences for himself and everyone around him.

Source: Cinema Source

• Showtimes and more on Smart People

Smart People tells the bittersweet tale of Professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid), who - despite his brilliance as a scholar of Victorian literature and his contempt for manglers of the English language - is an underachiever when it comes to his personal life.

Since the death of his wife, Lawrence has become ever more disconnected from his children (a college-aged son and a teenage daughter), his students (whom he instructs to wear name tags so he doesn't have to learn their identities) and his joie de vivre, to the point that he's simply going through the motions of living without actually engaging in the process.

Quaid, sporting a scholarly beard and speaking in low-register undertone for the entire 95 minute run time, convinces as a disappointed-at-the-world intellectual elitist who just doesn't understand why everyone doesn't understand him - including the impound lot attendant who refuses to let him remove his car without paying the requisite fee, even though he (Lawrence) had "an agreement" with Carnegie Mellon campus security about the lack of a parking permit.

It's in the process of sneaking papers out of his impounded vehicle (and then climbing over the fence) that Lawrence suffers a seizure, sending him to the hospital where he runs into a former student, Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker), now a doctor. Turns out Doc Hartigan had a crush on Professor Wetherhold while she was taking his Vic Lit course and maybe - just maybe - has never gotten over it, but in order to reach that conclusion she'll have to sit through a dinner date during which the professor appears to be offering a refresher course in stylistic nuances employed by the Brontë sisters. SNORE!

Uncle Chuck and Vanessa: odd couple, well matched

Meanwhile, Lawrence's daughter, Vanessa (Ellen Page, channeling Alex Keaton) appears to be morphing into a clone of her father - all self-important and averse to anything that smacks of leisure activity. Fortunately for her, Lawrences' black sheep adopted brother, Chuck, shows up to serve as chauffeur during Lawrence's recuperation, and Chuck is actually Thomas Hayden Church, who has the equivalent of a doctorate in leisure activity. Chuck determines to show Vanessa how to have a good time.

There's some nicely-handled romantic tension built up between too-young Vanessa and middle-aged uncle Chuck which eventually resolves itself in acceptable Victorian fashion, but while the frisson is in play it provides the movie's only real edginess. The problematic relationship brewing between Lawrence and Janet offers up none of this spark.

Amusingly, the bombastic book Lawrence has been shopping around to publishers (resulting in an accumulation of rejection slips) is actually accepted by a canny editor who sees the potential for an ironic bestseller along the lines of "How to Piss People Off by Sounding Superior."

"Hello, Ms.... um... where's your nametag?"

Also notable in the cast is Ashton Holmes as Lawrence's son, James, who receives little attention from his father because he's - well - more-or-less well-adjusted. It's only when he has a poem published in the college lit mag that his dad sits up and takes notice.

Director Noam Murro's thoughtful debut feature (from a script by Mark Poirier) features relationship lessons aplenty, and an artful script makes them go down easy. But when all is said and done there's little left sticking to our entertainment ribs. About the best that can be said is that it leaves a pleasant aftertaste.

IS THIS MULTIPLE CHOICE?: "Are you always this contentious, or is this a result of the head trauma?" - nurse Janet Hartigan

A FEATURE OR A BUG?: "Do you think I'm self-absorbed?" - Lawrence to daughter Vanessa. "I think self-absorption is underrated." - Vanessa's reply

AND A FINE BEAUJOLAIS IT IS: "I chose this Beaujolais specifically to go with the ham." - Vanessa

BESTSELLER POTENTIAL?: "People love to hate books like this. It's almost like the book itself is a fucking bully." - Lawrence's publisher

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