Comments on: Smart People Review

By: Dragonslayer

Dragonslayer — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 01:57:08 +0000

I thought it was okay. I didn’t really see any reason to love these characters. I normally love Ellen Page (who looks so fine in this movie), but she was too much of a bitch in some scenes. It was nothing Oscar worthy, and it isn’t funny. But I thought it was okay

I give Smart People a 7/10

By: Muriel

Muriel — Sun, 18 May 2008 13:42:32 +0000

I saw Smart people yesterday and found it quite bad: the movie’s ingredients have all been ‘borrowed’ from existing movies which did a much better job than this movie.
Everything seems quite caricatural, from the chemestry-absent relationship rising between Denis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker to the ‘rebel/genius’ daughter, or again the ‘rebel/lost/cool’ uncle.
I even found the soundrtack very uninspired and taking too much space, like the director is trying to make up for the poor story line, dialogues and character’s psychological dimension.

I must admit I left before the end, which I rarely do when I go to the cinema. I left after not seeing any improvement for about 1h10, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the end shows Denis Quaid bringing his defunt’s wife clothes to the charity shop, as a symbol of closure.

If you are in the mood to see that kind of movie, I’d recommand to rent out a movie such as Wonder boys, whose story line can be remotely compared but whose result is without contest so much better.

By: Shane

Shane — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 20:38:00 +0000

I’ve noticed that in her career, Ellen Page has become a great actress. X-men was not her movie, but I agree that Juno made her a star.

By: smrt_blk_yng_adlt_male

smrt_blk_yng_adlt_male — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 03:25:30 +0000

Ah! I very much do agree with MATT on why there was no explanation as to why Quaid would only sit on the driver’s side back seat of the car. I was hoping that there would be some kind of allusion, brief even, to a car accident of some sort involving Mister Wetherhold’s late wife, or some horrible childhood experience that would explain his unduly nauseous reaction to sitting on the passenger side. Maybe I should garner up some fortitude and ask the writers…

Great movie, though,NOT FOR EVERYONE. Some could get extremely bored with this movie. Its a great movie for people who appreciate analysing the subtleties and complexities of life.

The film, to me, depicts the not-so-perfect realm of the “college educated, well-to-do family” yet the brilliant dialogue and quite candid nature of the film is all too amusing.

By: Drewbacca

Drewbacca — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:40:56 +0000

Aha! The guys at filmspotting nailed it! Go watch “Wonderboys” instead. A film with similar themes and tones, but much more challenging and actually lives closer to the edge and takes some interesting chances; while Smart People is sort of cliche ridden and generic.

By: Drewbacca

Drewbacca — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:00:02 +0000

Ugh. Once again we disagree. Yes, some of the humor is funny, but I didn’t find much of it to be hysterical. It was chuckle worthy and that’s about it (ooh! It’s Haden Church’s butt for absolutely NO reason other than to show his but. Yeah, hilarious).

The film is completely bland and never bothers to take any chances. The 90 minutes felt like 120. It was the most neautral film I can think of on the year; nothing challenging about it whatsoever.

The side characters were completely devoid of life – the brother had no point in the film at all. It’s like they wanted him in there, but weren’t quite sure what to do with him and addressed him once or twice. Either have him be part of the story or not. It can’t be both ways.

And the music… oh that droning, generic folk rock that has no feeling whatsoever playing throughout. 9 out of 10?

No; 6/10 AT BEST, but closer to a 4.

By: JBS

JBS — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 11:30:12 +0000

Mr. Campea, thank you for you passionate and intelligent post about Smart People, as well as former well-informed posts. I feel it necessary to state that I saw Smart People on opening night. Like you I fond of Thomas Haden Church and Ellen Page very much, and think that Sarah Jessica Parker and Dennis Quaid have done excellent work many times over. Also like you I was very excited to see the film since the first time that I saw the trailer (though I do not share your love of Juno). In your review you write that “The one weakness of this film is the Sara Jessica Parker character,” and you go on to explain that the relationship between her character (Janet Hartigan) and Dennis Quaid’s (Lawrence Wetherhold) is forced and unnatural. However you also laud the character and performance of Quaid, as well as Ellen Page, Thomas Haden Church and Ashton Holmes. While watching the film, at many points, I felt that the characters were all a bit too one-dimensional, so much so that I found them all a bit forced and unnatural, and thought them difficult (sometimes impossible) to connect with. Your first paragraph under the heading “The Good” seems to go into detail that the themes explored in the film resonated with you so much that the film caused you to enter a state of self-reflection. This brings me to a question: you thought that the characters were all (with the possible exception of Sarah Jessica Parker’s) well-developed and also you connected with the themes of the film, I thought that the characters were one-dimensional, is it possible to connect with a film’s themes and not its characters? What relationship does a films characters and themes have, does appreciating one beget appreciating the other? After seeing the film and reading some reviews, it seems that Smart People destined to be one of those films that people will either love or hate. I am very curious to know any responses you have to this and hope that I will hear from you.

By: Jesse Rosenberg

Jesse Rosenberg — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:11:16 +0000

Anyone else see the similarities of Ellen Page’s character from Juno and this???
The two characters both have witty comebacks to other people. Having the general output towards others in both movies? Anyone agree?

By: Mr.Death

Mr.Death — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:45:20 +0000

Funny, the reviewer I heard condemned this movie but praised Street Kings. I have to stop watching the stuff the show in taxi’s…

By: mixmastajb

mixmastajb — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:49:44 +0000

Hey john,

this movie only has a 48% on RottenTomatoes. Are you surprised by this?