'Smart People'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

Movies about dysfunctional families always work better as comedies. Humor has a way of taking the edge off the most appalling familial experiences. That's the case with "Smart People," a modest comedy about a family of brilliant but lonely misanthropes in Pittsburgh's East End.

Lawrence Wetherhold (Dennis Quaid) is a bored and grumpy Carnegie Mellon University English professor. Seven years after his wife's death, Lawrence still can't bring himself to donate her clothing to Goodwill. His teenage daughter, Vanessa (Ellen Page), and college age son, James (Ashton Holmes), pursue academics with the grim stoicism of the emotionally abandoned. Lawrence's underachieving brother, Chuck (Thomas Haden Church), provides most of the comic relief and rounds out this family of passive-aggressive losers. Enter Dr. Janet Hartigan (Sarah Jessica Parker), a former student of Lawrence's turned unlikely love interest.

Janet forces Lawrence to confront his tendency to withdraw emotionally. This has implications for the rest of the family that prefers the status quo in a way. Vanessa is especially threatened by her father's growing affection for Janet, although she has her own issues of inappropriate affection to deal with. All of this makes for an exceptionally "talky" film, though it is never dull. Pittsburgh comes across as a very appealing and livable place in a "Wonder Boys" sort of way.

The DVD contains deleted scenes and outtakes that aren't particularly interesting. The interviews with the director, writer and cast are pro forma. None of the characters fit known Pittsburgh archetypes unless the East End intellectuals director Noam Murro met while shooting this film are this insufferable. If so, we should all apologize.

-- Tony Norman, Post-Gazette staff writer

'The Wire: Complete Fifth Season'

4 stars = Outstanding
Ratings explained

The fifth and final season of "The Wire" ($59.99, HBO Video) wasn't designed to make converts. Series creator David Simon had come too far in telling complex, nuanced and interlocking stories about Baltimore, its grimy underbelly and its failing institutions to suddenly make it accessible to the masses. The 10 episodes that comprise the final season are as heartbreaking and devoid of uplifting sentiment as its predecessors. Detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) hatches a scheme to trick the mayor (Aidan Gillen) into indirectly financing an illegal wiretap that will also grant unlimited overtime to detectives working murder cases. McNulty's duplicity is echoed by an unethical reporter (Tom McCarthy) who riffs on the detective's charade by taking it to the next level. The Baltimore Sun's city editor (Clark Johnson) knows the reporting isn't sound, but his bosses are committed to following a story that could ultimately discredit the newspaper, the police and city hall.

Besides terrific storylines involving Bunk (Wendell Pierce) and Omar (Michael Kenneth Williams) and six audio commentaries, this four-disc collection includes "The Last Word," a documentary about the role of the media, and "The Wire Odyssey," an excellent retrospective on the series' themes. Alas, the mini-episodes featuring Omar, Proposition Joe and the first meeting of Bunk and McNulty aren't included. But for those curious about the roles the actors tried out for on the show before they were cast as the characters we know and love, you won't be disappointed. Wait until you find out who tried out for the role of Bubbles but lost.

--Tony Norman

'Prison Break: Season Three'

2 1/2 stars = Average
Ratings explained

If "24" has a rival for the title of the most absurd plot-driven show on network television, it would have to be "Prison Break." Much of what happens on this three-year-old series is hokum, of course, but a guilty pleasure needs little justification -- especially this one.

The third season ($49.98, 20th Century Fox) finds architect-turned-prison-escape artist Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) and his pursuer Agent Mahone (William Fichtner) adjusting to life in Sona, a notorious criminal-run prison in Panama. T-Bag (Robert Knepper) and Bellick (Wade Williams) are in the clink with them. The four antagonists form an uneasy alliance over 13 episodes of a season shortened to half its usual length by the 2007-08 writer's strike.

This four-disc set has more leaps in logic than the average cartoon, but the actors remain as compelling as ever despite the silliness of the plot. The DVD contains a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of season three and a dissection of its notorious escape episode. There's nothing fresh or surprising here. Ironically, this series was a whole lot better when the action was confined to death row.

--Tony Norman

'CJ7'

2 1/2 stars = Average
Ratings explained

A schoolboy in Hong Kong is a bullied underdog until he finds a "pet" with powers from outer space. With Stephen Chow.

After defending his home, a family man is sent to a maximum-security prison. With Stephen Dorff, Val Kilmer, Sam Shepard.

• TV on DVD: "Caroline in the City," season 1; "Dave's World," season 1; "The Love Boat: Season One, Volume Two"; "Prison Break," season 3; "South Park," season 11; "The Three Stooges Collection, Vol. 3: 1940-1942"; "Tru Calling: The Complete Series."