Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

Smart People is another one of those movies that really disappointed me.  It had such a promising premise, but it failed on several levels.

It's a movie about people who are book-smart (speak intelligently, do well on tests) but don't have a clue how to be heart-smart (can't carry on a normal conversation, let alone a relationship). 

Dennis Quaid plays Lawrence, a professor, whose wife died several years ago.  Since then he's become hardened to life, to the point where he mopes through his days with barely a caring thought about any other human being.  He's nasty and pompous to everyone with whom he interacts - his students, the other faculty members, and even his own family.

The family consists of daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page) who's brilliant, but socially awkward.  She's obsessed with getting good grades (the "perfect" SAT score), and running the household in her mother's absence, but doesn't know how to relate to anyone her own age.

Older brother James (Ashton Holmes) isn't given a whole lot of screen time, but he's shown to be a college kid far more comfortable at his dorm than he could ever be, in his family's home.

Then there's Lawrence's brother Chuck (Thomas Haden Church).  He's the antitheses of everyone else.  He drinks, does drugs, lacks any sense of responsibility, but he's the happiest of the bunch. 

When an accident lands Lawrence in the hospital, everything changes.  His doctor Janet (Sarah Jessica Parker) is one of Lawrence's old students, and she had a crush on him, back in the day.  The two end up dating.  Could this be the catalyst that brings Lawrence out of his funk, and saves the family from permanent despair?

Who cares?  I sure didn't.  And here's why:

Lawrence is not "a sweet man going through a difficult time".  He's a nasty SOB who is completely unlovable.  It made absolutely no sense to me that Janet would go out on a date with him, despite having a crush on him many years ago.  But, OK, even if I accept that she goes on a first date with him, it ended in such disaster that she ends up leaving him at the dinner table.  So why in the world would she EVER go on a second date with him?  We never really get to know Janet, but we can see that she's smart, pretty, and has a great job.  It would seem that she could easily find a man who's not nearly so arrogant, nasty, and totally messed up, like Lawrence is.  They never show the two of them developing any kind of friendship, or deep feelings for each other.  So these two pairing up, let alone sleeping together on their second date, made no sense to me at all.  I never felt drawn into their relationship, nor was I rooting for them to stay together.

Daughter Vanessa is another mystery.  She's pretty, smart, and appears to have a decent head on her shoulders.  Yet she makes horrible choices for herself.  She uses the excuse that she's lonely - has no friends because she's so much more intelligent than everyone else her age.  Sorry, but I don't buy that excuse.  There are plenty of smart kids that she could have related to.  Join the debate team, a chess team, a book club, or a science club.  Find people your own age to hang out with, so you can stop making destructive choices.  Like hanging out with your loser uncle who gets you drunk, and gives you drugs.  Vanessa is supposed to be so smart, but she couldn't figure these things out for herself?

Finally there's Uncle Chuck.  We are never told why the two brothers ended up on such different paths, and why Lawrence has absolutely no patience with Chuck.  There's some mention about how Chuck has approached him for money in the past, and never paid him back, but other than that, why is Lawrence barely able to stay in the same room with Chuck?  We are never shown a scene with the two of them together, really talking things out.  Nor are we shown any type of flashback that would explain this relationship. 

I do think the performances were pretty good.  Especially Ellen Page - Queen of the acid-tongued one-liners.  Yes, we've definitely seen this role from her before, but she does it so well, it's still enjoyable.  And despite the fact that I hated his character, Dennis Quaid did a great job.

But, given that this movie is full of characters I don't like, and can't possibly understand, it's no wonder that I didn't care one single bit what happened to them.  As a result, the movie is completely forgettable to me, and not one I can recommend.

Recommended: No