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A Slice of Life
by Francine Brokaw
Smart People
Professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is a brilliant man, but he is lacking in his people skills. His brother Chuck (Thomas Hayden Church) calls him “socially retarded.” Lawrence is an unhappy man. In the ER after an accident he meets Dr. Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker) who is a former student and who long ago had a crush on her professor. When he decides to take her out on a date – his first since the death of his wife – this does not sit well with his genius daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page), who, incidentally, is working to get a perfect score on her SAT. The first date goes miserably. He is self-absorbed and pompous, which is pretty much the same way he is in his classroom. He is also completely out of touch with his college son James (Ashton Holmes).
The film is about a completely dysfunctional family and their idiosyncrasies, and how, through time, they learn to extend themselves and become more caring toward each other. The characters are interesting to watch as they interact with each other and the audience gets a good image of how smart and strange they each are in their own way.
Chuck (Thomas Hayden Church) is the comic relief of the film, adding not only some fun scenes, but he is also the anchor for the family, which is interesting because he is considered not to be as intelligent as the rest of the family and a loser. He is the adopted brother who does not have a job and is always in need of money. But he is the one member of the family who is happy.
Smart People is an interesting story with interesting characters. It’s interesting because Chuck is the only happy one of the group and he is not the most intelligent one... however perhaps he is smarter than the others because he is happy. By the way, what was your score on the SAT?
© 2008 Francine Brokaw
Photos ©Bruce Birmelin/Miramax Films. All Rights Reserved.
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