MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Down 91 this week

Smart People (2008)

 -  Comedy | Drama | Romance  -  11 April 2008 (USA)
6.2
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 6.2/10 from 17,506 users   Metascore: 57/100
Reviews: 105 user | 163 critic | 33 from Metacritic.com

Into the life of a widowed professor comes a new love and an unexpected visit from his adopted brother.

Director:

Writer:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 3627 titles created 1 month ago
 
a list of 1402 titles created 10 months ago
 
a list of 250 titles created 04 May 2011
 
a list of 72 titles created 01 Aug 2011
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Smart People (2008)

Smart People (2008) on IMDb 6.2/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Smart People.
1 nomination. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Adventureland (2009)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

In the summer of 1987, a college grad takes a 'nowhere' job at his local amusement park, only to find it's the perfect course to get him prepared for the real world.

Director: Greg Mottola
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Kelsey Ford, Kristen Stewart
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

A widower finds out the woman he fell in love with is his brother's girlfriend.

Director: Peter Hedges
Stars: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

While his trailer trash parents teeter on the edge of divorce, Nick Twisp sets his sights on dream girl Sheeni Saunders, hoping that she'll be the one to take away his virginity.

Director: Miguel Arteta
Stars: Michael Cera, Portia Doubleday, Jean Smart
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

A political consultant tries to explain his impending divorce and past relationships to his 11-year-old daughter.

Director: Adam Brooks
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, An Nguyen, Abigail Breslin
The Last Kiss (2006)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

Michael and Jenna, having been a couple for three years, want to get married and start a family. These plans seem to be well on their way when Jenna announces that she's pregnant. But ... See full summary »

Director: Tony Goldwyn
Stars: Zach Braff, Jacinda Barrett, Casey Affleck
Chaos Theory (2008)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

The story of an obsessively organized efficiency expert whose life unravels in unexpected ways when fate forces him to explore the serendipitous nature of love and forgiveness.

Director: Marcos Siega
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Emily Mortimer, Stuart Townsend
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.7/10 X  

Lifelong platonic friends Zack and Miri look to solve their respective cash-flow problems by making an adult film together. As the cameras roll, however, the duo begin to sense that they may have more feelings for each other than they previously thought.

Director: Kevin Smith
Stars: Elizabeth Banks, Seth Rogen, Craig Robinson
The Wackness (2008)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

It's the summer of 1994, and the streets of New York are pulsing with hip-hop. Set against this backdrop, a lonely teenager named Luke Shapiro spends his last summer before university selling marijuana throughout New York City, trading it with his unorthodox psychotherapist for treatment, while having a crush on his stepdaughter.

Director: Jonathan Levine
Stars: Ben Kingsley, Josh Peck, Famke Janssen
Love Actually (2003)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.7/10 X  

Follows the lives of eight very different couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely and interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England.

Director: Richard Curtis
Stars: Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, Martine McCutcheon
Solitary Man (2009)
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.4/10 X  

A car magnate watches his personal and professional life hit the skids because of his business and romantic indiscretions.

Directors: Brian Koppelman, David Levien
Stars: Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Danny DeVito
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

L.A. soft-porn writer Carter Webb is frustrated enough after his actress girlfriend dumps him to need a serious break. He decides to spend it with his grandmother, who can't really take ... See full summary »

Director: Jon Kasdan
Stars: Elena Anaya, Adam Brody, Kristen Stewart
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.5/10 X  

A middle-aged ad exec is faced with a new boss who's nearly half his age... and who also happens to be sleeping with his daughter.

Director: Paul Weitz
Stars: Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johansson
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Don Wadsworth ...
...
...
Curtis (as Patrick Sebes)
Kevin James Doyle ...
Paul Huber ...
Ben (as Paul J. Huber)
Iva Jean Saraceni ...
Volunteer
...
Parking Lot Attendant
Edit

Storyline

Lawrence Wetherhold is miserable and misanthropic: he's a widower, a pompous professor at Carnegie Mellon, an indifferent father to a college student and a high-school senior, and the reluctant brother of a ne'er-do-well who's come to town. A seizure and a fall send Lawrence to the emergency room where the physician, a former student of his, ends up going on a date with him. His daughter, Vanessa, lonely and friendless, who's been bonding with his brother, tries to sabotage dad and the doctor's relationship, but Lawrence is good at that without help. Is there any way these smart people can get a life? Can happiness be pursued beneath layers of irony? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

student | professor | doctor | date | physician | See more »

Taglines:

Sometimes the smartest people have the most to learn

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, brief teen drug and alcohol use, and for some sexuality | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Country:

Language:

|

Release Date:

11 April 2008 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Una familia genial  »

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£88,235 (UK) (16 May 2008)

Gross:

$9,496,882 (USA) (30 May 2008)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rachel Weisz was originally cast opposite Dennis Quaid in this film, but she decided to leave the project. She was then replaced with Sarah Jessica Parker. See more »

Goofs

Spenser's "Faerie Queene" is misspelled on the blackboard, an egregious error for an English Literature professor. That the camera lingers on the shot may indicate an intentional mistake by the filmmakers. See more »

Quotes

Chuck Wetherhold: [to Vanessa] You're a monster!
See more »

Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 12 April 2008 (2008) See more »

Soundtracks

"Pursuit of Happiness"
Written by Nuno Bettencourt and Gary Cherone
Performed by Nuno Bettencourt and Suze DeMarchi
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
unripe and reminiscent of the excellent 'The Accidental Tourist'
28 April 2008 | by (United States) – See all my reviews

I've just seen this film and read a number of reviews about it. Many reviewers are referencing 'Little Miss Sunshine', 'The Family Stone', etc. But I left the theatre thinking of the wonderful, beautifully balanced and developed, fun film, 'The Accidental Tourist'--another film about an emotionally deadened, difficult man who is suffering from the loss of a loved one and is 'redeemed' through love. Talk about quirky families; the one in 'Tourist' puts most of the rest to shame. The difference perhaps in the quality of these films (Tourist very high, Smart People quite low, many others in the 'genre' somewhere inbetween) lies in that The Accidental Tourist was based on the highly crafted, moving novel of the same title by the gifted writer Anne Tyler. What stands out for me again and again as I work up my courage to attend recent releases is that the quality of screenplay writing in Hollywood and elsewhere is low, low, low. Rushed, pressured, unbaked--too many films being made too fast, with scripts that bore and confuse us with unconvincing plots and thin characters. This film, Smart People, could have been--with revision and review--a much better, more engaging, moving picture. The script simply wasn't ready for production; the story isn't there.


30 of 52 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Pedophilia and Ellen Page's characters laine_little2004
Ellen Page = Hot? esurient_one
ummmm SJP in this movie? wth? FilmFigment
Pretty *beep* bad cheryl_superc
What does the title mean ? iberiaa321
i know it's a longshot, but Ellen page for Best Supporting Actress Oscar echo20212000
Discuss Smart People (2008) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?