Smart People ~~

Whilst on a flying visit to London, I took the opportunity to go and see something which our local cinemas' (not one, but two in this small city) often fail to show. An 'independent' film. Unfortunately, for all it's merits, Smart People does nothing to prove that the big cinema's are wrong on not showing 'blockbusters' all of the frigging time. A real pity, on all fronts. But still, shame on you two of the biggest cinema chains in the UK. What's wrong with a bit of variety??? (And Smart People isn't even that much of an 'independent' (whatever that means when it's in inverted commas) film.)

Cutting to the chase. This is a flick about academically smart people who happen to be pretty dumb at normal life stuff like falling in love, relating to other people and cooking. Or so we are told here.

Dennis Quaid and Ellen Page are the stand out performances whilst Thomas Haden Church does a good impression of the character he played in 'Sideways'. Page is just lovely, lovely, lovely but wasn't given any really meaty lines to get her teeth into as the emotionally stunted and friendless, politically active teenager-daughter. Quaid just about keeps hold on the emotionally distant, work obsessed University Professor-father character, getting to grips with life after the death of his wife. The appearance of his down and out brother (Church) sends his character into quite a spin ultimately pushing him into an explosion of emotion enabling him to deal with his own personal issues.

Sarah Jessica Parker makes an appearance as the love interest, as an ex-student of Quaid's interested in helping him towards the path of sexual and emotional salvation. Again, Parker isn't given a good enough portion of the script and the character just isn't justified enough through the story-telling.

What begins as a potentially dark little comedy about a dysfunctional family on the verge of individual collapse ends so unsatisfyingly that way before the credits, I just didn't care. There are a few glimmers of what I thought the writer and director were trying to get at but overall, just not enough of the good stuff to sustain.

If you want to see what this film could have been like, go and see Michael Douglas act weird in 'Wonder Boys'.

(Viewed 25/05/08)