I enjoy films about dysfunctional families and their various dramas. I also enjoy quiet independent films devoid of the usual Hollywood crap (car explosions, gratuitous violence or nudity, people who are too pretty to be real, etc). But I’m starting to wonder if the world of independent film is overusing the dysfunctional family hook. The main reason I wonder this is because I can’t seem to get into the trailer for Smart People, which has all the elements of a movie I’d usually be looking forward to.

Great cast: Dennis Quaid is a self-absorbed mopey college professor. Ellen Page is his overachieving high school daughter (sort of a snarkier Rory Gilmore). Thomas Haden Church is his lovable loser (adopted) brother. And Sarah Jessica Parker is his new love interest (as long as she stays away from any Carrie Bradshaw-like moments, she’s a pretty good actress).

Good pedigree: It’s from the same production team that did Sideways (a terrific movie).

Relatable story: A family that seems to have it all together on the outside, but is a crumbling mess behind the scenes. Dad is lonely, and kind of a pretentious jerk. Daughter is neurotic and doesn’t know how to just be a kid. Brother is the black sheep of the family, whose very presence is an annoyance, yet necessary to bring the family back together.

I guess what makes me somewhat ambivalent about Smart People is that the story is too relatable and too familiar. How many times have I seen the story of a family being brought back together by an unlikely agent? You Can Count On Me comes to mind. Maybe even The Family Stone. The trailer leaves me with a bit of a Little Miss Sunshine feel, too. I don’t know, maybe I’m being too critical and cynical, and I’ll eventually eat my words when Smart People has something new to offer when I eventually RENT IT.

Smart People is rated R and opens April 11. (Official site)

I admit it; I enjoyed watching Sex and the City when it was on HBO. It was an entertaining show, often both hilarious and heartbreaking, and it was a fun way to escape into a fantasy world where I could live in one of those swanky Manhattan apartments, afford those ridiculous shoes, find a date with the snap of my fingers, and have a group of fiercely loyal gal pals. And yet, I have no desire to see the movie when it opens this spring.

Why? Because the show ended so neatly. Each character’s story arc came to a definitive close and was tied up with a neat little bow. I watched as Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte grew and evolved and all settled down into their versions of ‘happily ever after’. There’s a reason fairy tales end after the happy ending; because after ‘happily ever after’, it’s boring!

One of my favorite parts of the television series was the endless string of losers the girls would date. Some of my personal favorites were Charlotte’s ‘likes to get into fights guy’, Miranda’s ‘overeater’, and Samantha’s ‘other Sam Jones’. But at the end of the series, each one of them settled down (in various ways) with their chosen guy. Where’s the fun in that? What is Sex and the City without Carrie and Mr. Big’s ‘will they or won’t they’ relationship? Or without Charlotte “The Rules” York single-handedly setting the women’s movement backwards with her constant mantra of “get married, make babies, get married, make babies, get married, make babies”? Or without Miranda keeping everyone at a distance with her snarkiness and quick temper? And let’s face it; if Samantha isn’t treating her vagina like the drive-thru at McDonald’s, she’s just not being the Samantha we all love/hate.

So unlike many other Sex and the City fans, I will not be at the theater opening night, wearing an “I’m a Carrie” t-shirt, and I’ll instead wait to RENT IT. It was an entertaining television show, not a lifestyle to mimic, and it ended, quite nicely, several years ago. Now if HBO ever gets its act together and makes a Deadwood movie, I’ll be all over that. There isn’t anything neat and pretty about the way they left those fans dangling.

Sex and the City: the Movie is not yet rated and opens May 30. (IMDB page)