by Mitchell Dean

Created on: April 21, 2008

aka "The Entertaining Brain"

Rated: R
Running Time: 95 minutes
Directed by: Noam Murro
Written by: Mark Poirier
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church, Ellen Page
Opens: April 11, 2008

ONE TAKE WONDER (AWESOME)

Smart People is for everyone!

When morose college professor and widower Lawrence Wetherhold (Quaid) meets ex-student Janet hartigan and falls in love, you would think everything would be great. But throw in half brother Chuck Wetherhold (ThomasHaden Church) and daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page) who is smarter then even her father gives her credit for and you're left with a recipe for heartwarming moments and grand comedy.

THE GOOD

The cast provides the viewer with a number of great performances. The chemistry that is found between Sarah Jessica Parker and Dennis Quaid has not been seen in romantic comedies in some time. Here they playfully bounce off each others dialog crisply and happily like they have performed in a countless number of films together. Thomas Hayden Church and Ellen Page provide us with another type of chemistry, the kindred spirit they share bounces out of the film bringing with it it's own life.

These actors and the performances they give as the characters in Smart People bring a life rarely seen in feature films.

Noam Murro not only gets great performances from his actors, but he provides a bleak background whereby the lives of the characters created by screenwriter Mark Poirier, can jump off the pages, onto the screen and into the theater.

One of the standout performances in the film is once again Ellen Page (Hard Candy, X-Men) who continues to "pop" as the young actress to be. She brings an innocent yet sexual energy to many of her roles. Page can possibly be the future Jodie Foster if she continues to choose her roles as well as she has.

THE BAD & THE UGLY

Here is another film that has nothing bad about it. From the moment the lights go down in the theater, the viewer is treated to a grand film.

Smart People is a film that adults should flock to the theater to see. It is charming, it is funny and it is alive in its own right. The high brow elements are tempered with the comedy that makes fun of its own seriousness.

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