Smart People
Crit
A film almost as tough to like as Dennis Quaid's pompous, misanthropic Carnegie Mellon English professor, and indeed I didn't for the first couple of reels. But after a while, its very refusal to engage in the cheap ingratiation that its poster seems to promise finally won me over. Quaid cashes in on body language that marks him as the world's oldest 50-year-old, and Thomas Haden Church is perfect as the world's oldest slacker. Little is asked of Ellen Page beyond being the anti-Juno, but she makes her 17-year-old Young Republican-National Honor Society robot work.
And kudos too to the editors of the trailer, who give no hint of a couple of key plot points that need to be surprises. Specifically . . . naw, I wouldn't do that.
3 comments:
just saw this today and loved it
It never really won me over. I did laugh a few times--mostly at Haden Church--but the plot felt so convenient to me. There are strange similarities to The Visitor--especially at the beginning--but that's a far better film, if you ask me.
Hey, I said it was hard to like, didn't I? Still, I'm eager to see The Visitor--might watch The Station Agent this weekend to prepare.
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