| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
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| Story: |
A |
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| Acting: |
A+ |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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| Visuals: |
A+ |
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Life Outside the Limelight
by Jim B (movies profile)
Apr 22, 2008
3
of
3 people found this review helpful
Film done well doesn’t mean, film over-done by injecting tons of money unbelievable production values, edited till the story no longer makes sense, camera angles and camera shakes so that we the viewer feel as though we’ve physically experienced some life altering philosophical lightning bolt by the time the credits roll. “Smart People” is a film that tells a story with a writer’s and director’s point of view and told simply. Refreshing! The cast of Dennis Quad, Thomas Hayden Church, Sarah Jessica Parker, Christine Lahti, Ellen Page, and Aston Holmes is a gem. They are a true ensemble here; Stars a plenty and all do a great job.
“Smart People” takes place in one of the Suburbs of Pittsburg PA and on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University. I felt as though I was a resident on the street where Professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quad) lives. The director doesn’t try to clean up this neighborhood and its alley ways, she leaves it just the way it is with all the weather worn wooden telephone polls, stale paint jobs on the homes, cracked sidewalks and scraggy brush and weeds making their living in them. The same with the family of the Wetherhold’s. The Wetherhold’s, Daughter and Son Vanessa (Ellen Page), James (Ashton Holmes), Half Brother Chuck (Thomas Hayden Church) to Quad and Uncle of Vanessa and James are just that type of family; living unnoticed and seemingly uncared for and are destined to continue along till some event alters their situation. They are brutally smart and make no bones about it, but show little push and appear to be unmotivated in forcing their aspirations’ and goals. They exist; not complacent but unimaginative. They are who they are and their genetic make up is what it is. Enter Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker) ER MD who was once a literature student of Prof. Wetherhold and the dynamics of the Wetherhold household is in for some major changes.
The pace of this film may not be for everyone and the political assay’s are upfront, though the moral language is personal it is nonjudgmental. Thomas Hayden Church plays a cad with heart and is completely charming, as is Dennis Quad’s character once you get under his skin.
I enjoyed this film and embrace it the way I would with a wonderful novella. This is not some epic event but the story tackles big issues with subtlety and sensitivity. The characters do their personal dance with the other characters and with themselves without losing their step or spacing; done with humor and compassion. I recommend this film to those who like a story told well. |
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