Smart People
In theaters 11 April 2008
Language, Brief Teen Drug and Alcohol Use, and for
some sexuality
Run Time: 95
Matt's rating - 1 out of 5
==========================================
Review by Matt Mungle
For a film titled "Smart People" this movie isn't very
intelligent. In fact it borderlines on idiotic. I think it
wanted to be some sort of artsy, intellectual look at
family dysfunction from an academic level. Instead it
was a poorly written rambling full of Swiss cheese
characters, horrible casting and plot lines that go
nowhere.
The main calamity of Smart People is Dennis Quaid.
Seeing him try and pull off the pompous Lit Professor
was almost laughable. He tried to be Renaissance in
his mannerisms but ended up looking like a doofus. I
like Quaid as an actor but this was so out of his realm.
It was painful to watch. He certainly isn't smart.
Ellen Page plays his daughter. A 16 year old who is
overly concerned about her grades, politics and social
structures. She is trying to compensate for her
mothers untimely death by holding the family together.
I think. None of the characters in this film made any
sense. It was like they were all bi-polar and from one
scene to the next you would get someone completely
different. Without any sort of reason or development
as to why they were doing what they were doing.
That's not smart.
Sarah Jessica Parker is the most hard to understand
character in the whole film. She starts out looking for
sex in the city and we never know what motivates her
or causes her to do what she does. So she isn't smart.
The only really smart character is Thomas Hayden
Church who plays Quaid's adopted brother. A
freeloader who goes from one job to the next and has
no sort of grounding in life. His character is the only
one worth watching and following in the film.
But again, you only get these little bits of tones as to
why he is
doing what he is doing and it never goes anywhere. All
the characters just skim over the surface.
Smart People is Rated R for Language, Brief Teen
Drug and Alcohol Use, and for some sexuality. It
should be rated R for ridiculous. I give this 1 out of 5
dunce caps. The sad part is that this movie was
filmed BEFORE Juno yet people will think that this is
the next step in Ellen Page's career instead of a bad
career choice. If you want to see a film that does what
this one wanted to do, rent Wonder Boys with Michael
Douglas and Frances McDormand. It excels in all the
places this one does not.
============================================================
Matt and Cindy are members of the North Texas
Film
Critics Association (NTFCA). For additional
reviews
and interview clips visit the website.
|
Mungleshow Productions
Matt Mungle
|
|
