About Schmidt (Widescreen) [Import]

This film is really wonderful in so many ways well directed acted and put together scene by scene and it is very long and surprising for a film dealing with this topic never drags. It flows like the lead Nicholson character who is in almost every scene..all over..and everyone is scene as they relate to him..and at the end of the film we get asense of him too much of him and no one else and thats why its called...SCHMIDT! It works wonderfully since the lead is so good in this role and has mastered it I cant think of anyone surpassing this performance..and thats why the film works he has us under his spell. Here we have a character who's wife has died and he being a cuckold by a friend..does it get any worse?..and although he has a good attitude we are told he finds everyone else does not..and it doesnt seem to bother them, as a matter of fact nothing seems to bother them that much..and Schmidt seems all too sad about life..there's an old idea here which reads like an old play in which we try to find out whethter a character has an inner disposition to being sad or is spiritual..and what is Schmidt..and can we actually separate it from him or in him and is this often diagnosed as depression...or years ago melancholy or more accurately dolorism? Rather than showing us flashback after flashback like an old film..and the subject is the character's relation to a dead wife, who appears like a ghost haunting him from room to room, we learn of her through his relation with his wife and all the characters he meets..and they all sense his sadness but dont exactly reciprocate..strangely, is his sadness an accurate view of how life really is and the others..and I must say a great script by this writer showing how the character has the intelligence to mature thinking his way through life and then emotionally developing himself in a deep way..but this is the character's search..volition or strong will..as the character has to maintain himself with these assorted characters..to the others he appears positive but they wonder if he is sad..but they dontreally care? Modern telling and excellently scripted and paced of an old kind of tale as we learn about a dead person through the relations of the lead character in conversations without really seeing her just as in a blurry reflection..rather than how she really is..one bad slip was the marriage scene with the daughter, and the writer wants to talk of modern love through a young couple and the daughter's spouse is supposed to be in love but appears childishly in a marriage scene blatantly narcissistic, it seems forced and overlong and I dont know if he is serious or parodying young people's inability to love? As i said intelligent script..near the end at a scene the strong arrive..at a historical scene..a plaque..to the strong?..Is that a joke? Strong can be ruthless can they be brave..a theme of this film..the movie ends as it began on a sad note from a letter from a group of nuns..a personal note..someone from a past time behaving in a decent way..a religious..through a letter..now what does that mean?

"About Schmidt" is, simply put, a milestone in American cinema. Coming off "Election," which was quite possibly the funniest movie of all time, director Alexander Payne delivered another classic here, but one of a different stripe. With Jack Nicholson delivering a performance that's somehow both low-key and passionate, this character study relentlessly examines the darker side of human existence, plumbing the depths of despair and hopelessness. However, the central character isn't a serial killer, a sex offender, or some similar paragon of depravity. Instead, he's a quiet, 66-year-old newly retired actuary from Nebraska named Warren Schmidt. That's what really makes this movie so depressing: someday, maybe not too far off, any of us could wind up like this movie's antihero, retired, widowed, and feeling useless.

Alexander Payne's portrait of Midwestern suburban life is almost unrelentingly bleak, following its main character around and focusing on all the tiny indignities that steadily pile up on him. The relentlessly self-analytical Warren has examined his life in search of some higher purpose, and he's come up lacking. Looking back he can see only missed opportunities and pointless toil, and looking ahead he only glimpses loneliness and impending death. He has only two things left that give his life any semblance of meaning: his attempts to prevent his beloved daughter from marrying a mulleted, fu-manchued waterbed salesman named Randall; and Ndugu, the Tanzanian orphan whom he starts supporting financially early in the movie. Warren's letters to Ndugu serve as a perfect framing device, providing a window to the internal conflicts that roil beneath his quiet exterior.

Since the monstrous shadow of "Election" looms over this movie for its entire two hours, comparisons are all but inevitable, and I might as well make mine now. Both movies are allegorical tales set in white-bread Nebraska locales, but "Election" is a screwball comedy anchored by a serious plot, while "About Schmidt" is a dark tale of quiet desparation and self-reflection with some offbeat humor mixed in. It's a good thing there are some laughs here too, or I might have wound up trying to hang myself with my belt after I first saw the movie. Most of the humor to be found come from Dermot Mulroney's clueless Randall and, of course, Kathy Bates as Randall's mildly deranged motormouth of a mother. Bates practically steals the show during her limited screen time, as her character's sincerity, her brutal honesty, and above all her tendency to reveal excessive details provides a much-needed counterpoint to Nicholson's reserve and bitterness.

While I'll be the first to admit that "About Schmidt" isn't an easy movie to watch, it's not supposed to be. What makes this such a rewarding movie is the challenge of watching such a thoroughly unremarkable man for two hours, following along with his path through despair, self-discovery, and ultimately a measure of redemption. Sure, Warren Schmidt's just a retired geezer from Nebraska, but his sufferings are more universal than they may appear at first. Warren's experiences make for such fascinating viewing precisely because there are so many people like him out there.

i loved this movie.it's touching,funny and ironic.the title character
played by Jack Nicholson is so likable,you can't help but root for
him.and Nicholson really tones down his bigger than life "Jack"
persona.there's no over the top scenery chewing here.his performance is
very subtle and understated,and doesn't overshadow the supporting
cast.the basic gist of the story is that Warren Schmidt has just
retired,and ends up on a cross country journey that changes his
life.along the way he discovers himself and meets some interesting
characters,which provide some comic relief.there is strong supporting
cast here,including Kathy Bates(Misery)Hope Davis,Dermot Mulroney and
Howard Hesseman.not to sound maudlin,but this was a very and thought
provoking and enriching experience.for me,About Schmidt is a well
deserved 4.5/5