Quaid, Page and Pittsburgh scenery in “Smart People”

“Smart People” Directed by Noam Murro Starring: Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, Ashton Holmes, Thomas Haden Church

out of

In “Smart People,” the Wetherhold family, a particularly hapless crew after Mrs. Wetherhold passes away, holds itself together with awkward dinners and disgruntled poetry.

Unfortunately, their grouchiness is contagious, stilting the story and leaving much of the plot at a standstill.

Widowed professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is the father of Vanessa and James, played by Ellen Page and Ashton Holmes, respectively. In case three isn’t a crowd already, Lawrence takes in his middle-aged, adopted brother, Chuck, played by Thomas Haden Church of “Sideways,” for a full house.

The family members demonstrate great potential in their jobs and education prospects.

We see this in everything from Professor Wetherhold’s position in the English Department at Carnegie Mellon University to Vanessa’s acceptance at Stanford and James’ newly published New Yorker poem.

Yet the Wetherholds’ relationships benefit little from any intelligence they possess, and when the three are put together, still recovering from the loss of mother and wife, they are truly a mess.

Chuck’s smarts display themselves in his decision to sleep on James’ floor in a college dorm a few nights a week and his ability to get out of any cooking, not to mention his quick read of the communication problems that are eating away at the family.

It takes Chuck, the perpetual bachelor and offbeat uncle, to start reconnecting the family.

Haden Church’s sarcasm and bluntness are valiant attempts to save a rather dry script, and Chuck’s drive-by comments to Lawrence keep him abreast of goings-on in his children’s lives.

He even has to tell Lawrence that his daughter, Vanessa, is just downright unhappy. The professor, who experiences a fog of depression while trying to date the nurse, Janet (Sarah Jessica Parker), a former student of his, he makes what could be a good relationship virtually impossible.

The problem? He puts energy into quickly selling his new book while he lets his family deteriorate.

In “Smart People,” no conversation is an easy one, and on-screen chemistry is even harder to come by.

A lack of chemistry puts a damper on all of the suspiciously intertwined romantic threads: James is sleeping with one of his father’s students, and Vanessa keeps reminding her uncle that he’s not a blood relative. Pittsburgh isn’t that much of a desperately small-town.

Speaking of the ‘Burgh, director Noam Murro picked the buildings of CMU’s campus for the backdrop of this dark, monotonous march of a movie.

Buildings that make a cameo include Baker Hall, Donner House and Skibo Gym. It also flashes to Goodwill numerous times and includes a drive around Schenley Park.

The film’s not all negativity, either.

A Christmas dinner with an unlikely guest at the table starts to foreshadow what might be a merrier future for the Wetherholds, depending on whether they stop dragging their feet.

Although it’s hard to believe that members of this family will stop feeling sorry for themselves, Janet reminds us, “We’re smart people,” in a line to Lawrence, as they make a life-changing decision.

Janet gives the notion that it’ll all work out, but for a little less than the movie’s entirety, a slew of uncommunicative characters make book smarts seem, well, depressing.