Smart People pleasantly surprised me. I was prepared to enjoy the premise of the movie but not what I assumed would be some self-conscious Hollywood comedy shtick. The movie certainly had some weak elements but on balance I thought is was an easy way to spend two hours.
What made the movie work for me were the performances by Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Hayden Church. I've always liked Quaid. He's not only likable and a good actor, but every now then he takes some risks. Church was a standout, but I think that's as much because of the nature of the character he was playing. He managed to be flaky and sympathetic without being obvious about it. The surprise for me was Parker. I'd known her only through fleeting glimpses of Sex and the City (while clicking past to PBS Masterpiece Theater, of course), plus some of the awful previews of the Sex and the City movie...which means my impression of her was of an overly gracious television hit-show star, of a woman trying to translate that into over-paid Hollywood mega-lead but not making it yet (Jennifer Aniston as a role model?) and of a TV star who shows up immaculately gowned and groomed in People Magazine. What I saw was a skilled actress who never overplayed her hand and who had enough experience, talent and star quality to hold her own with ease against Quaid and Church.
While the relationship between Lawrence Wetherhold (Quaid) and Janet Hartigan (Parker) was a little ambivalent, I think that was due to the writing, not the actors. I particularly appreciated that Quaid and Parker played more-or-less their real ages. Quaid is in his mid- fifties and looked it for his character, including the small paunch. Parker is now in her early forties, a dangerous time for a female in Hollywood who wants to play leads. Her close-ups, her make-up and her lighting didn't try to cover the little wrinkles around the eyes. As head of ER in a major hospital, her character would have been in the late thirties or early forties; I wound up admiring Parker's willingness to be true to her character.
On the weak side, Smart People quickly established the kind of character, teacher and parent Lawrence Wetherhold had become. We watched him try to change a little, but Wetherhold was essentially Wetherhold for most of the movie. There wasn't enough wit to keep him amusing and there wasn't enough growth to get us, at least me, really involved with the character. Hartigan's unhappiness with Wetherhold in the New York hotel room seemed to me to be merely a writer's device to keep the story going and add some angst that could later be resolved. Janet just seemed to fade away at the end and Wetherhold's epiphany, which was due to his discovered love for Janet, came on awfully fast. And mark me down as a curmudgeon, but precocious teen-agers (and pre-pubescent tykes) just seem to me to be an easy way for a writer to get cheap laughs. Vanessa Wetherhold did nothing for me that couldn't have been accomplished with a smaller amount of screen time. And while Ellen Page may develop into a gifted actor, she'd better be careful she doesn't fall into mannerisms. She was teetering on the brink with this movie.
But to end on a high note, let's hear it for Christine Lahti. She played the department secretary who was assisting Wetherhold. She made a first-class impression in a small part. I almost wish Wetherhold had noticed her before he noticed Janet.
What made the movie work for me were the performances by Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Hayden Church. I've always liked Quaid. He's not only likable and a good actor, but every now then he takes some risks. Church was a standout, but I think that's as much because of the nature of the character he was playing. He managed to be flaky and sympathetic without being obvious about it. The surprise for me was Parker. I'd known her only through fleeting glimpses of Sex and the City (while clicking past to PBS Masterpiece Theater, of course), plus some of the awful previews of the Sex and the City movie...which means my impression of her was of an overly gracious television hit-show star, of a woman trying to translate that into over-paid Hollywood mega-lead but not making it yet (Jennifer Aniston as a role model?) and of a TV star who shows up immaculately gowned and groomed in People Magazine. What I saw was a skilled actress who never overplayed her hand and who had enough experience, talent and star quality to hold her own with ease against Quaid and Church.
While the relationship between Lawrence Wetherhold (Quaid) and Janet Hartigan (Parker) was a little ambivalent, I think that was due to the writing, not the actors. I particularly appreciated that Quaid and Parker played more-or-less their real ages. Quaid is in his mid- fifties and looked it for his character, including the small paunch. Parker is now in her early forties, a dangerous time for a female in Hollywood who wants to play leads. Her close-ups, her make-up and her lighting didn't try to cover the little wrinkles around the eyes. As head of ER in a major hospital, her character would have been in the late thirties or early forties; I wound up admiring Parker's willingness to be true to her character.
On the weak side, Smart People quickly established the kind of character, teacher and parent Lawrence Wetherhold had become. We watched him try to change a little, but Wetherhold was essentially Wetherhold for most of the movie. There wasn't enough wit to keep him amusing and there wasn't enough growth to get us, at least me, really involved with the character. Hartigan's unhappiness with Wetherhold in the New York hotel room seemed to me to be merely a writer's device to keep the story going and add some angst that could later be resolved. Janet just seemed to fade away at the end and Wetherhold's epiphany, which was due to his discovered love for Janet, came on awfully fast. And mark me down as a curmudgeon, but precocious teen-agers (and pre-pubescent tykes) just seem to me to be an easy way for a writer to get cheap laughs. Vanessa Wetherhold did nothing for me that couldn't have been accomplished with a smaller amount of screen time. And while Ellen Page may develop into a gifted actor, she'd better be careful she doesn't fall into mannerisms. She was teetering on the brink with this movie.
But to end on a high note, let's hear it for Christine Lahti. She played the department secretary who was assisting Wetherhold. She made a first-class impression in a small part. I almost wish Wetherhold had noticed her before he noticed Janet.