Smart People

Skip the endless scrolling — Smart People, in the US on Hoopla, and in the UK on Amazon Prime Video and Icon Film Amazon Channel, is exactly the comedy you were looking for. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. With 291 viewer ratings on TMDB, this is not a title flying under the radar. Dennis Quaid is the obvious draw, but the whole ensemble earns its laughs. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Hoopla.

Smart People arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Smart People does what great comedies rarely manage — it is actually funny, consistently, across the whole run. Professor Lawrence Wetherhold might be imperiously brilliant, monumentally self-possessed and an intellectual giant -- but when it comes to solving the conundrums of love and family, he's as downright flummoxed as the next guy. The chemistry Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker bring to it does a lot of the heavy lifting. Smart People came out in 2008. The real test of any comedy is whether it is still funny once you know all the jokes, and Smart People holds up on rewatch in a way that separates it from one-off curiosities. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Smart People is the kind of thing you put on in the background and end up fully watching. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Dennis Quaid sets the tone, but the supporting cast is where a lot of the best moments come from. A reliable pick for any night you want quality comedy without the homework.

Smart People was released in 2008, directed by Noam Murro. The full 95-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.