Smart People

What stands out first about Smart People is the confidence with which Noam Murro establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Smart People asks Dennis Quaid and Thomas Haden Church to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Smart People is established with useful clarity: Dissatisfied with his wife's death, an English teacher becomes depressed and bitter, but finds the possibility of new love. That direct approach lets Smart People use its 1h 35m running time for character, atmosphere and consequence.

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Noam Murro gives Smart People a directorial line that is capable of strong moments without finding a complete rhythm from its opening promise to its final movement. The staging of Smart People is strongest when Noam Murro allows motivation to determine pace instead of reversing that priority. Viewed as a complete piece, Smart People confirms that the appealing elements never quite settle into a seamless whole across most of the running time. A tighter version of Smart People would address how emotional turns sometimes arrive before the relationships are ready, yet the surrounding work remains persuasive.

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What keeps Smart People emotionally readable is Dennis Quaid, whose choices establish a consistent point of view. In scenes with Thomas Haden Church, Smart People gains tension from two performers refusing to produce the same kind of energy. Sarah Jessica Parker contributes a separate rhythm to Smart People and helps the supporting material feel less purely functional. The direction by Noam Murro gives the cast of Smart People room to connect the quieter beats with the larger ones.

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The craft of Smart People is defined by performer rhythm, supported by performer rhythm rather than overwhelmed by decoration. Miramax gives Smart People a production framework in which comic timing built around character can remain connected to story. Made from a United States production context, Smart People uses setting and design to clarify mood before dialogue has to explain it. The technical finish of Smart People works because image, sound and editing appear to be serving the same immediate purpose.

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The plot of Smart People is built around the uneasy relationship between Dissatisfied and English. For Dennis Quaid, that relationship gives Smart People an emotional objective stronger than simple forward motion. The screenplay associated with Mark Poirier lets the central character reshape the direction of Smart People in stages. Although the treatment of an important relationship could be sharper, Smart People never entirely loses the thread established at the beginning.

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Smart People finds additional purpose in its examination of embarrassment, status and the gap between confidence and reality. Through the performance of Dennis Quaid, Smart People makes that examination feel personal before it becomes broadly symbolic. The idea of Dissatisfied repeatedly returns Smart People to the cost behind its more visible developments. Noam Murro is most persuasive when Smart People allows the theme to emerge from an uncomfortable choice rather than polished dialogue.

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Smart People ends as a mixed experience best approached with measured expectations, especially for comedy fans who respond to personality and timing. What remains from Smart People is the relationship between Dennis Quaid, performer rhythm and Noam Murro's control of mood. The weakness that emotional turns sometimes arrive before the relationships are ready narrows the impact of Smart People without cancelling its better work. On balance, Smart People gives its intended viewers a distinctive experience rather than a completely anonymous piece of content.