Smart People ***

"Smart People" is a movie about small changes, a comedy/drama character study of a self-absorbed academic who slowly comes to connect with the world around him, which includes his children, his brother, his students, even an ex-student who had a crush on him back when.

At the beginning of the movie, we meet widowed English literature professor Lawrence Wetherhold (a rather tired-looking, paunchy Dennis Quaid) dragging himself to class, and making no effort to connect with his students. His fiercely brainy, college-bound daughter (a buttoned-down Ellen Page) follows in his footsteps, arguing that "self-absorption is under-rated." Her older bother James (Ashton Holmes, the standout son in "A History of Violence") is already at Carnegie Mellon, where Dad teaches, but in his own world, largely unknown to Dad.

Enter adopted brother Chuck (a disheveled Thomas Hayden Church) just as Lawrence suffers a seizure and cannot drive for six months. The doctor who treats Lawrence is the ex-student (a toned-down Sarah Jessica Parker) who had a crush, but, like his other ex-, or even present, students, Lawrence does not remember her.

What follows is a well-designed story of family dynamics that brings Lawrence to acknowledge his unhappiness and to start to deal with the death of his wife and take an interest in his children. Interspersed with these stories is his campaign for head of the department, despite chairing the search committee. (There is the precedent of Dick Cheney, his Republican daughter points out.) But is that what he really wants?

Both the personal and the professional story lines have the ring of truth. Writer Mark Jude Poirier has labored in the academic world, and it shows. The cast is uniformly good, especially Quaid in a departure from his usual action roles of late, so kudos to first-time director Noam Murro. (But demerits go to wardrobe for giving Quaid a prosthetic paunch with visible straps.) And high praise for production designer Patti Podesta for interiors that look real and lived-in, and within a professor's budget.

Rated R. 95 Minutes. Noam Murro - Director, Mark Jude Poirier - Writer, Michael Costigan - Producer, Bridget Johnson - Producer, Michael London - Producer, Bruna Papandrea - Producer, Toby Irwin - Cinematographer, Patti Podesta - Production Designer, Robert Frazen - Editor, Yana Gorskaya - Editor.

Principal actors: Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Page, Thomas Haden Church, Ashton Holmes, and Christine Lahti.