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What were Sarah Jessica Parker and Dennis Quaid thinking by making this movie?

You’d think that with a cast that includes Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker and Ellen Page, the new-to-DVD movie “Smart People” would have to be good, right? Wrong.

Quaid plays Lawrence Wetherhold, a widowed college professor who is attempting to raise his teenage daughter and college-age son alone. He doesn’t seem to really care about anyone or anything. When he injures himself by jumping a fence to retrieve something in his car after being towed, he lands in the hospital. This is where his meets up with his former student, now an ER doctor, played by Parker.

Since Lawrence had a trauma-induced seizure while in the hospital, the doctor informs him that he can’t drive for six months. Lawrence’s adopted brother (played by Thomas Haden Church, who played Lowell Mather on “Wings”), who usually only comes around when he needs money, offers to drive Lawrence around so that he can have a place to stay after loosing his apartment.

All of that sets the setting for a movie that has potential, but falls flat.

Page plays Vanessa, Lawrence’s teenage daughter who has taken over the motherly duties since her mother passed away. She has the same dry sense of humor as she did in “Juno,” but only cares about making good grades and getting accepted to the college of her choice.

Page’s character, along with Church’s, are really the only entertaining aspects of the movie.

In one scene, when Vanessa’s brother insults her by calling her the ‘perfect little housewife,’ her response is: “Oh yes, if by perfect you mean not retarded, slash suffering from insurmountable credit card debt, then yes, I am perfect.”

But those little comedic instances are rare.

Quaid’s character is depressing, and even Parker can’t save this one. Her character’s interest in Lawrence flip-flops, and there never seems to be an explination. There are a few moments, mostly between Page and Parker, when she shines, but Quaid mostly brings her down.

The movie starts on a high note. Lawrence is just plain mean, and it is entertaining at first. And the first few scenes with Page and Parker are entertaining, especially their first meeting over the phone in which they already have distain for one another. But Lawrence’s meaness just gets depressing and Page and Parker just kinda fizzle out with the rest of the movie.

By the end of the movie, I didn’t really care what happened to any of the characters, and was mostly bored. Even after Lawrence attempts to reconnect with his children, the attempt offers no emotion. In other words, avoid this one if possible.