Smart People

12:39pm Friday 16th May 2008

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Smart People (15) *** - Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Thomas Haden Church, Ellen Page and Ashton Holmes.

Watch the trailer here

THE producers of the excellent Sideways return with this pleasing enough comedy which stars the able Dennis Quaid as the leader character.

He plays Professor Lawrence Wetherhold, a depressed widower who has lost his mirth with the world.

Arrogant at work he shows scant interest in his students and his two children.

And just when things couldn't possible get any worse, his waster of an adopted brother Chuck (Thomas Haden Church in good loveable rogue form) turns up to cause trouble, borrow money and seems to be making a play for his daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page).

But there is some hope on the horizon. Our hero meets sympathetic doctor Janet (Sarah Jessica Parker), a former student he can't remember who had and still has a crush on him.

The twists, turns and travails of family life and love, lost and won, are nicely played in this engaging enough film with a heart-warming feel that never gets too mushy or slushy.