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BY MAGGIE SCOTT

“Smart People” gets pretty dumb in spots, thanks to stilted, contrived narrative and heavy-handed character development that pushes the cantankerous grump for ill-fitting laughs; stretches thin the smart-alecky genius for ironic precocity; and over-exposes the non-conforming slacker’s devil-may-care assets.

Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is a widowed professor of English at Carnegie Mellon hoping to get a book published and to be picked to be head of the department. Still mired in unresolved grief, he’s over-indulging his penchant for alienating his nearest and dearest—from the students in his Victorian novel class, to his children.

Daughter Vanessa (Ellen Page) is at home, handling Dad’s avoidance of life and Mom’s death by setting high standards of academic overachievement and humorless oversight of Lawrence. Son James (Ashton Holmes) is attending Carnegie and living in the dorms, but only seems to be worth a visit from Dad when there’s a problem with money. Lawrence is clueless that Vanessa wants to go to Stanford and that James can write pretty good poetry. And, when it comes to his “adopted” brother, Chuck (Thomas Hayden Church), absence has not made Lawrence’s heart grow fonder for the guileful freeloader.

With gruff irritation, Lawrence tries to maintain control over his closed-off world, but is forced by circumstances to loosen his grip on self-pitying self-indulgence. When a fall takes him to an emergency room, Lawrence meets a woman who used to think quite highly of him. Dr. Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker) had a crush on the professor when she was struggling to meet his high standards for papers examining Dickens’ “Bleak House.” Old flames fanned, the good doctor makes sure Lawrence knows she’s interested. Awkward courting ensues.

Meanwhile, Chuck has been working on loosening up his Young Republican niece, and isn’t prepared when his merry prankster attentions make her fall for him. After frustrating skirmishes with embarrassing misreading of people, everyone retires to their respective corners. Until life’s bell rings and they come out swinging at another chance for love and happiness.

Shortcuts and contrivances with the details of who these people are and how they connect with each other spoil what little sympathy the story is striving for.

A Groundswell Productions film, Miramax Films release, rated R for partial nudity, language, sexual content.
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