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Youknow how some movies have action that goes on and on and on and youcan't catch your breath and you realize your body is completely tensedup and you wish it would just give you a moment's break? This isn't oneof those movies.
SmartPeople, by director Noam Murro, is a slice of life movie that,fortunately, I was in the mood to see. Centered on the widowedProfessor Lawrence Wetherhold (brilliantly played by Dennis Quaid), hisdaughter Vanessa (Ellen Page, of "Juno" fame) and his (adopted) brotherChuck (Thomas Haden Church), the slow but steady pace of the moviebeautifully reflects the real-time daily pain of Prof. Wetherhold'sloss of his wife.
Wetherholdis an English professor who has become a curmudgeon, cruel to hisstudents, dismissive to his family, and angry at the world. He wearshis pain like a porcupine suit. His daughter Vanessa and his (adopted)brother Chuck try to reach him through academia, logic, andpracticality. But it isn't until he meets and gets to know Dr. JanetHartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker) that a mirror is held firmly to hisface to see what he's become, and he is eventually re-introduced to theworld around him and the people who love him.
DennisQuaid is completely enveloped in his character. His portrayal ofWetherhold is so complete that I never saw Quaid on the screen, thesign of a great actor. Every facial muscle, hand clench, and crookedstep is Wetherhold, not Quaid. I love it when I stop watching the actorand care about the character. Quaid is fantastic.
EllenPage turns in a performance totally worthy as a follow-up to herspectacular portrayal as a pregnant teen in "Juno". She's acollege-bound, Republican straight arrow, inhabiting her character withevery inflection and turn of the head.
SarahJessica Parker provides an adequate performance as an emergency roomdoc turned love interest, but I couldn't get past the fact that it wasSJP. I got tired of the constant close-ups as well, which distracted meeven further.
Ifound myself simultaneously a little bored and drawn in to the dailydrama of their lives. The story moved one step back for every fivesteps forward, just like real life. While I left the theaterconsidering whether I liked it or not, I realized later that I had beenin the mood for a quiet, gentle drama, and this movie provided thatlittle fix.
Overall,the story is like a tiny itch you have to continually scratch: a littleirritating but satisfying when you can reach it, even though you knowit's coming back. It's when you at last find the source of the itchthat you get final relief.
