Review of Smart People (2008) by Esteban G — 28 Dec 2011

I really enjoyed this movie thanks to a great cast and smart script, but especially thanks to Ellen Page who is always fun to watch. She tends to choose very witty characters who are smart and always have interesting one liners.

This time around she plays Vanessa, a smart teenager who lacks a social life. Her life seems to revolve around studying to get a perfect SAT score and pleasing her father in everything (played by Dennis Quaid).

Her performance is great as in all her movies and she is what makes this movie enjoyable for me. Dennis Quaid and Thomas Haden Church also give strong performances. Dennis plays the literary profesor who is hated by all his students because he is the typical smart man who thinks he is better than everyone else and lacks social skills.

On the other hand Thomas plays his adopted brother who is a mess and is always borrowing money from his brother. He is the funniest character of the movie. His relationship with Vanessa in the movie is interesting as the dialogue between both characters is pretty funny.

I enjoyed several quotes from this movie. Especially the one where Thomas says that his family is sociallly retarded. Or when Ellen s character asks these girls from a bar What does it feel like to be stupid.

I found the movie to be quite funny and touching, very humanistic. These characters although smart had a lot of learning to do in their social relationships and in a way they are helped out by Sarah Jessica Parker s character.

Overall I found the movie entertaining and it was short so it didnt drag at all like most movies of this genre. But I dont know how much I was influenced by Ellen Page since I might be biased towards her movies as I always enjoy her roles since I saw her first in Hard Candy.