Noam Murro Movies
Though he eventually built a trademark reputation as a director of offbeat feature films, Noam Murro undertook a most circuitous route into Hollywood. Born in Israel, Murro originally trained as an architect in his boyhood town of Jerusalem, NY, then entered the advertising industry, with a lengthy tenure in the creative department of Gotham's Goldsmith/Jeffrey Agency. During that stint, he became known for his deft and original hand at directing promotional films via his own production banner, Biscuit Films (co-run with Shawn Lacy Tessaro); their clients included such brands as Saturn, E*Trade, and FreeAgent.com. In time, Murro and Tessaro migrated to the advertising-based production house Stiefel & Co., in Southern California, then set up a new production banner for themselves. In the years to follow, talk swirled of Murro's pending feature activity -- including, at one point, his plans to direct The Ring Two for DreamWorks (an assignment eventually handled by Hideo Nakata, the director of the original Japanese film) and the black comedy All Families Are Psychotic; however, Murro eventually took his first high-profile feature bow with the 2007 comedy Smart People. The film stars Thomas Haden Church, Dennis Quaid, and Sarah Jessica Parker, and concerns a professor (Quaid) who grapples with a new romance and the doings of a shady brother. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
Commercial director Noam Murro makes the leap to feature films with this comedy drama concerning an aging professor-turned-bitter eccentric due to the death of his longtime wife. Ever since his wife passed away, Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) has become overly acerbic and self-absorbed. He's alienated his son (Ashton Holmes) and transformed his daughter (Ellen Page) into a friendless overachiever. Now, at the precise moment Lawrence thought he had finally figured it all out, his life comes crashing down all around him as he falls for a former student (Sarah Jessica Parker) and his shiftless adopted brother (Thomas Haden Church) comes knocking on the door in search of a place to stay. Though Lawrence always relied on his intelligence to get him out of life's little jams in the past, it's going to take quite a bit more than intellectual thinking to move past this sticky stage in his suddenly chaotic life. David Denman and Christine Lahti co-star in this romantic comedy drama, which serves as the screenwriting debut of Goats and Modern Ranch Living author Mark Jude Poirier. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker, (more)
