WDSHE Press Release - Released 8/12 ('Smart People')

New Release Streeting 8/12: ('Smart People')

Press release from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment:

- Smart People (Street Date: 8/12)

SMART PEOPLE– From producers of Sideways and As Good As it Gets comes Smart People, a witty comedy about a smart, yet lovable dysfunctional family with lots to learn. Coming to DVD and Blu-ray™ Disc on August 12, 2008 from Miramax Films, Smart People comes fully-loaded with an all-star cast, never-before-seen interviews, outtakes and deleted scenes.

Smart People stars Golden Globe® nominee Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, In Good Company) as Professor Lawrence Wetherhold, four- time Golden Globe® winner Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex in the City, Failure To Launch) as Wetherhold's former student and love interest, Academy Award® nominee Ellen Page (Juno, X Men: The Last Stand) as Wetherhold's acid-tongued teenaged daughter and Academy Award® nominee Thomas Haden Church (Sideways, Spanglish) as his amusing under achieving brother.

Directed by first-time feature filmmaker Noam Murro and scripted by novelist Mark Poirier, Smart People has delighted critics across the country with its light-hearted look at a dysfunctional yet resilient clan. Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal writes that the film is "genuinely witty and smart," and John Powers of Vogue calls it a "A brisk new comedy." People magazine's Leah Rozen praises the film as "Smart and enjoyable." Additionally, Smart People premiered to acclaim at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Once an idealistic and ambitious academic, Professor Lawrence Wetherhold (Quaid) lost his passion for teaching when he lost his wife. Hunkered-down behind his books, Wetherhold has forgotten how to connect, even with his daughter, the acerbically witty Vanessa (Page). Suddenly a head injury sends Wetherhold to the emergency room where his world spins out of his control. Forced to depend on his brother (Church), a freeloading oddball, for transportation, Wetherhold is surprised to find himself attracted to his ER doctor and former ex-student (Parker) and begins to emerge from his isolation—with surprising consequences for the entire family.