Smart People

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Smart People ★★ 2008 (R)

Who don't act like it and behave badly. Supercilious Lawrence Wetherhold (Quaid) is a widowed English-lit professor at Carnegie Mellon who's bored and contemptuous of his students. His son James (Holmes) avoids the drama by living in the dorm and teen daughter Vanessa (Page) is following too closely in dad's footsteps. An accident that forbids Lawrence from driving brings doctor (and ex-student) Janet Hartigan (Parker) into Lawrence's life as well as his ne'er-do-well adoptive brother Chuck (Church), who moves in as temporary chauffeur. Church has the most fun with his stoner free spirit while everyone else does well enough by their stereotypes. 95m/C DVD . US Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church, Ellen Page, Ashton Holmes; D: Noam Murro; W: Mark Jude Poirier; C: Toby Irwin.