DIRECTOR: Alexander Payne
STUDIO: New Line Cinema
RATING: R
RELEASE DATE: December 13, 2002
You have to admit seeing Nicholson play an ordinary man is somewhat intriguing. Plus, he's even married to someone his own age. But this movie is brilliant, and so is Nicholson, who stars as a retired insurance salesman who is coping with the sudden death of his wife and the marriage of his only daughter. While coping, he communicates through letters to his Childreach foster son, Ndugu, who is never seen (except for a picture) in the movie. And what makes it hard to distinguish whether About Schmidt is a comedy or a drama, is the way it has very subtle but hilarious moments, usually coinciding with something very dramatic. But all great movies have no genre classification. Casablanca doesn't. The Wizard of Oz doesn't. So why should this?