At times, Smart People can be a clever and witty comedy, though only if you manage to stay awake until the end. It flows at a mellow, steady pace, with no sections that prevail as more exciting, dramatic, or climatic than the previous.
Dennis Quaid stars - alongside Sarah Jessica Parker and Ellen Page - as Lawrence Wetherhold, a jaded and monotone English professor. Having lost his wife, his daughter Vanessa (Page) tries to be the Little Miss Perfect housewife and student, from scoring straight As to presenting hot meals and keeping the house clean.
No one in his family seems to really care for Lawrence, until he has an accident and is treated by an ex-student, Dr. Hartigan (Parker). She soon becomes his girlfriend, though his family (but mostly Vanessa) begins to worry that Lawrence is still too fragile after his wife's death to begin dating, especially this much younger woman. Even his freeloading adopted brother (Thomas Haden Church) shows a bit of concern - though he's only living with Lawrence because he has no where else to go.
The rest of the film deals with Lawrence's attempts to climb the professional, and social ladders, all while maintaining a grip on his familial relations.
The film ultimately adopts too much of a defeatist tone, as characters seem reserved to simply accept their destinies without any true resistance. The little jokes and snappy remarks here and there make Smart People a comedy, but if you happen to tune out for half a second you might miss them; they are still there though, many of them quite funny at that.
Somehow, Smart People fails to bring out its inherent hilarity. The movie's blasé, muted nature establishes it as the best when little else is available. Yet it's hardly a tool for intellectual stimulation.
