Epoch Times Blog

There were more than a couple hilarious films here at Sundance, yet one was as laugh out loud funny as it gets: “Smart People.”

The films stars Dennis Quaid as Lawrence Wetherhold, a pompous English Literature professor at Carnegie Mellon University who has yet to move on after losing his wife many years before. He is not liked by most, including his colleagues, students, and his son who also attends the university. Yet Wetherhold is so locked in his own sense of self that he doesn’t know or care about how his peers perceive him.

Things take a turn when Wetherhold falls and has a concussion, thereby meeting a former student, now-turned doctor, played by Sarah Jessica Parker. The two begin an unlikely relationship.

The film is a rhythmically comedic drama with the interchange of quips and cynically funny dialogues between Weatherhold, his staunch teenage Republican daughter, played by Ellen Page (from the recent breakout hit “Juno”), and his drifting adopted brother played by Thomas Haden Church. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say this film was a favorite among most at Sundance.