Smart People: Double Parked

Director: Noam Murro
Writer: Mark Poirier
Producers: Michael Costigan, Bridget Johnson, Michael London, Bruna Papandrea.

Starring: Dennis Quaid as Lawrence Wetherhold, Sarah Jessica Parker as Janet Hartigan, Thomas Haden Church as Chuck Wetherhold, Ellen Page as Vanessa Wetherhold, and Ashton Holmes as James Wetherhold(IMDb). Rated-R.

Lawrence Wetherhold is an English professor who is best described as disgruntled or grumpy. One day his car was towed. This was unfortunate indeed, because Wetherhold had a book inside his car that he was trying to get published. After failing to bribe the student at the university impound, Wetherhold secretly climbed over the impound fence to retrieve the case in which his book was kept. Much to Wetherhold's surprise, the student working at the impound chased after him, and while he was climbing over the fence to make a getaway he falls on his back and suffers from a seizure. Moments later, he is in the hospital, where he meets the lovely Dr. Hartigan.

Essentially this film is primarily about brilliant academicians who are very motivated, with the exception of Chuck, and very unhappy. I'm not sure if this film was advancing the moral, that a life of achievement does not equate to happiness, but perceivably it appeared to be the main point of the film. The goal for these characters was to admit they were unhappy, and then place themselves on the path that lead them to happiness. Amongst the major characters, Chuck seemed the happiest, but that is debatable considering he had no job. While Chuck had the ability to stay relatively inviolable in his time of struggle, one gets the impression that he wanted more from life. From the general direction of the film, one can gather, these people will certainly not be happy overnight, but perhaps they will be in due time.

The acting was great. All the characters were well casted, but one small detail did bother me however. Denis Quaid is in great shape, and his character's little beer belly did not seem real at all. In any event, this is a very original story with an unconventional script that was characterized by erudite dialogue, enveloped by the reality that smart, loving families are not necessarily perfect and happy families. This film was joyfully insightful; I give a it B-. Stay tuned, Movieporium.blogspot.com.