MovieChat Forums > Smart People (2008) Discussion > Smart People : Dumb Movie

Smart People : Dumb Movie


Well that is almost two hours of my life I cannot get back.

Amrican movies seem to be going the same way these days (Sideways, Darjeeling Limited, Juno etc)-making movies about losers and passing it off as "comedy" with a happy ending.
In typical American movie tradition -since the movie is about losers a New York location is out of the question (New York = successful people), so the movie is set in Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh = ordinary people stagnant in their lives ho ho ho).

Four unlikeable characters-even Ellen Page plays a Young Republican Reagan loving bitch (who paradoxically is not pro-life).

What exactly does the Sarah Jessica Parker character actually see in the the Dennis Quad character apart from re-creating some freshman crush? Quad's character has zero redeemable features and we do not even see his mellow side once he falls in love.
And what was the meaning of the main character delving into the archives to re-mark a 1992 exam paper only to re-mark it again?

The Page character's relationship with her step Uncle is weird- and repetative shots of the step Uncle's butt raised few laughs.

A really unenjoyable movie with four awful characters.

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I agree; the writing was hurried, the characters quirky in an unlovable way, and again we have a movie embracing underage drinking and cigarette smoking.
This movie isn't real life....it isn't even a real movie.

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yeah i agree, the writing was quite terrible, both the characters and the story. i couldn't imagine any of the characters to be real. i don't also get why sarah jessica parker would fall in love with quaid's character.

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it is hard to believe that a movie with such great actors could lead to such a lazy and boring movie. Very disapointing.

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It's a stretch to say any of these actors are "great".

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I have to disagree, I could imagine a lot of people like them and even worst and strangers. I consider myself intelligent (not a genius) and I could relate to them in a lot of aspects.

Maybe, Sarah Jessica was kind of strange to fall in love with Quaid, but I have seen couples that are completely different and worst than this match. They were really intelligent, not happy neither unhappy, just following the flow of time. (Quaid, Page and Parker)

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My husband and I totally agree with you! In fact, your first and last sentences were said by my husband before we read your review and we just had to laugh. It was one of the worst movies we've actually sat through and we're now scratching our heads and wondering why we didn't shut it off after 15 minutes like we did with Step Brothers....oh, well....live and learn!

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I totally agree!

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My wife and I just finished watching it and we were not impressed at all. A universe inhabited by people that only exist in some screenwriter's imagination. The film was awkward. The attempts to demonstrate how smart they were seemed forced. I thought of Quiz Show when Van Doren family had their get together and played their mental games. It seemed natural for them. I didn't like any of the characters. There was little logical motivation and little to like.

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too bad you can't get the time back it took to conceive, type and post your thoughts on it. it seems as dumb as the movie was to you that it affected you enough to devote more time towards it by relaying your opinion on it to the world. I think that's what movies try to do, elicit responses, for better or worse to get a reaction. it looks like it succeeded here. Though I don't agree with your post because I did like the film, I did LOL at the thread title, which is why I read it.

"everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die"

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Belatedly agreeing. I'm about fifteen minutes into it, and that's plenty. I'm switching channels now.

I'm gonna set fire to his car to punish him for my mistake.

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It was actually ok as far as I am concerned. a sideways version of Sideways!

Its that man again!!

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