In Smart People, Dennis Quaid plays Lawrence Wetherhold, a literature professor who’s too smart for his own good. He has nothing but contempt for his students, whose names don’t even register. And he dismisses his colleagues as hacks, even the ones who (unlike him) are getting published. He’s arrogant and self-involved with visibly little reason, using his wife’s death as an excuse—rather than justification—for his misanthropy.

After his car is towed, Lawrence’s pomposity lands him in the ER, where the doctor, a former student (Sarah Jessica Parker), informs him he won’t be able to drive for six months. Enter Gig Matrix favorite Thomas Haden Church as the irresponsible but lovable adopted brother-cum-chauffer, who joins overachieving Republican daughter Vanessa at the Wetherhold house.

The plot is all quirky contrivance, but it’s just the setup for some very nice character studies. Quaid wears a scraggly beard like a raincloud, obscuring his meaty leading man parts looks behind a scowl and 20 extra pounds of paunch. He prefers hiding in the dark confines of academia, burying himself in Victorian-era literature and living in his own Bleak House. Parker drops her glamorous Carrie Bradshaw persona (and most, though not all, of the mannerisms) for a vulnerability that is eminently likable.

THC plays a slight variation on the Sideways role that redeemed his career, and although he doesn’t appear shirtless, you do catch a lingering glimpse of his ass. Ellen Page proves her Juno performance was no fluke, tingeing her wise-beyond-her-years acerbic teen with genuine pathos.

Smart People isn’t a revelatory film by any means; there’s no huge (disingenuous) Jerry Maguire eureka! moment that changes Lawrence irrevocably. Rather it’s a subtle shift in perception, a willingness to open up and take things for what they are that makes Lawrence a smarter person in the end.