About Schmidt

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The Trouble with the Autumn Years, 2010-07-16
If you're a fan of Jack Nicholson and are in love with the movies that he stars in (Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown, Batman, etc.), then you'll probably be pleasantly surprised with this one. About Schmidt features a different kind of Jack: he's not slick or witty or even charismatic. This time, he plays a retired man who has nothing to say or accomplish. He is convinced that he has made no difference at all in life. What happens to him AND around him doesn't seem to matter anymore (except when he tries to drag his daughter away from marriage). So with all the worthless free time, he decides to sponsor a foster child from Africa named Ndugu. During this time, he writes letters to the little boy and these are the only times he expresses his true feelings to another person. When his wife passes away and his life seems more worthless than before, Schmidt ultimately travels to Colorado just days before his daughter's wedding to meet his future son-in-law's eccentric family. br / br /This is a comedy-drama that simply works. Not only does it feature Jack in a drastic departure from his other performances, it also features life during the Autumn Years. It shows us a truer side to retirement and how it affects the mindset of the sort of people who don't find anything very exciting or worthwhile. The dramatic moments do work, as well as the comedic ones. Another thing that I like about this film is how the slow and quiet pace of the film resembles the main character's experience during retirement. Kathy Bates and the supporting cast do very good jobs. The only problem I have is the brief and unexpected nudity in one scene, which seems unnecessary and rather distracting. Other than that, this is a great film by both Jack and director Alexander Payne. And if you haven't seen this film yet, well, be prepared to be intrigued by the deep story and some TRULY authentic acting. br / br /Grade: A-

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The Politics of Meaningless, 2010-07-03
Jack Nicholson plays a man just retired who, following the unexpected death of his no longer beloved but much needed wife, finds himself unbearably lonely, desperately seeking some good reason to keep going. No longer an assistant vice-president and no longer needed 'at the office', dead wife unable to keep annoying him, best friend found to have betrayed his trust, Mr. Schmidt's last 2 chances at relevance are saving his only daughter from what he considers an about to happen bad marriage and becoming a 'step father' by sending a $22 monthly check to a charity that promises to save a Third World child from disease and poverty and letters from the lucky kid. br / br /For about 2 hours, the movie chronicles the constantly desperate, exasperated, annoyed, disappointed Schmidt who watches his all hopes at 'meaning' or 'control' evaporating while interacting with the 'normal' world of today's - consumers at home, at their leisure, interacting with one another, some searching for some meaningful interactions but mostly busy consuming 'things' and each other, sometimes in a feeding frenzy. br / br /It's a honest movie with Nicholson honestly portraying what should be a familiar archetype, Kathy Bates at his side, doing a similarly great job of a female counterpart still dreaming the dream. It should be also a hard to watch movie, especially for anyone in their mid 50's or past and probably irrelevant to the 'under 40' cohorts. Superficially, it could be watched as a mild comedy, which is probably how most viewers are going to view it. br / br /Is 'About Schmidt' worth watching? I'm not sure. It may be but potential viewers should not expect any catharsis, happy-ending, suggestions on how one could live a better life. This is a movie about 'what is' so nothing is unusual or unexpected and everything is profoundly and irrevocably depressing. It gets for stars for being 'good' but not touching 'brilliant'. br / br /The DVD comes with some deleted scenes, a trailer... various levels of sound quality, including DTS, subtitles and so on.

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About Schmidt, 2010-05-12
Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) is a man who's always wanted to accomplish more in life, but now he finds himself retiring from a dead end job having made no difference in the world around him. One day, on a whim, Warren calls Childreach and "adopts" an African orphan named Ndugu, who Warren uses as a sounding board to let out his feelings concerning what he feels is his wasted life. Shortly after his retirement, Warren's wife, Helen (June Squibb), dies reminding Warren of just how much he needed her. On his way to his daughter, Jeannie's (Hope Davis) wedding Warren takes a soul searching road trip in his RV before trying to convince his daughter to not marry the waterbed salesman (Dermot Mulroney) she's currently engaged to. br / br /Before winning the adapted screenwriting Oscar for his wine country dramedy, Sideways, and after his nomination for the excellent Election, Alexandar Payne cowrote and directed this underrated dramedy with his oft-writing partner Jim Taylor. Overshadowed by a notorious nude scene by Kathy Bates in the late second act of the movie, it's often forgotten that Jack Nicholson and Kathy Bates were both nominated for Oscars and Jack Nicholson won a Golden Globe for best performance by an actor in a drama (to which Nicholson said during his acceptance speech, "I'm a little surprised, I thought we had made a comedy"). First picking up this movie I can't really say that I knew what to expect going in, but that's also part of what made me pick up this movie in the first place. br / br /What I got, for all the fuss about Kathy Bates, was a poignant character study about a very ordinary man in his 60's. I'm sure a lot of people don't feel the same way, after all some of Warren's actions are deplorable, but he's a very human character. He's an ordinary man who wants to be extraordinary about him, and so inside he pines to make a difference in the world. The movie does a great job, as well as Nicholson playing the role to a tee, of showing a man that even at his happiest carries around the weight of never having accomplished anything in his life to be proud of as he also confronts his own mortality. In the end the movie reminds us that we don't have to do big great things to make a difference in the world, though, even small gestures can make the world around us a better place. br / br /While in the end the overall message of the movie can be considered slightly corny, I still have to say that I recommend this movie. At times it's quite funny, and the acting is phenomenal. Even with a corny message, which does not overbear the plot or tone of the movie, sometimes we do need to be reminded of these things at times. Give it a try, if you like Payne's other films like Sideways and Election you'll probably enjoy this, and it's also one of Nicholson's best later career performances. br / br /4/5

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Excellent film. Nicholson at his best, 2010-05-11
Nicholson performs over-exceedingly well in this humorous drama about the perils and trials of growing old. Compared to Jack Nicholson's previous works, this work really shows the pinnacle of his acting skills in my opinion. The film may seem slightly slow to some, but in my humble opinion has very few plot holes and shows maturity in scripting. This film is definitely worth purchasing (especially on Amazon at its price!) and worth watching more than once.

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Looks like it got lost, 2010-04-13
Oldered this movie on3/28/10 and just got it yester day 4/10/10. Holy Moly Batman what's with that?