About Schmidt
Cast
Jack Nicholson as Warren Schmidt
Kathy Bates as Roberta Hertzel
Hope Davis as Jeannie Schmidt
Dermot Mulroney as Randall Hertzel
June Squibb as Helen Schmidt
Directed by Alexander Payne
Rater #2 has description and review
Rater #1
8/10. Ah...Mr. Schmidt, welcome to your new life. We first meet Warren Schmidt waiting for 5:00 to come so he can consider himself retired. His life doesn't seem fulfilled throughout the movie even with his wife.
Truthfully, I think most of the characters weren't very well developed. The only one that we truly get to know is Schmidt himself. His wife croaks pretty early on because she had a blood clot in her brain while vacumming. His daughter pops in and out, and her fiance, soon to be husband, is a sleezball. Randall, the sleezeball, is about as bad as you can come. Then again, there's always worse. Look at his mom....ugh...not exactly the person I would want to marry. Her stories were...uh...how should I say....very strange. Kathy Bates, played Roberta the sleezeball mom, has a frightning nude scene. It was a rather on the gross side. I don't think all the men in the theather enjoyed it. Gag city, I tell you
Let's move on. Jack Nicholson was a elluva an actor. I really felt sad for the man and yet it seemed like he had thrown away his life. His character was very attached to people around him and when his wife died, poof! Everything seemed lost. Jack played the role very well. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing any of this other roles, but there's always Blockbuster! Though his next role, with Adam Sandler in Anger Mangement, looks a tad weird, and we'll have to see what good comes out of it.
Kathy Bates if my memory serves me well, was in Titanic as the Unsinkable Molly Brown. Now personally, I liked that performance a lot better because of 2 things. 1. The (expletive) (expletive) (expletive) words that came out of her mouth. Though very funny, weren't very necessary. and 2. Last but very, very least, that nude scene in the hot tub. I think we all know why Jack was scared of her. Whoa boy.
As I was watching the movie, there really wasn't truly anything objectiable. IF they cut out the f-word that was used about 5 times and the nude scene, it could have easily passed as PG-13 if not PG.
One last thing that I have to put down is that I thought this movie was very funny but at the same time very depressing. Though in all of the most unlikely things that could happen, there was 1 very funny part. Dear Ndugu. Ndugu was a child in Tanzania who was an orphan. Schmidt pledged to help him through the Childreach fund thingie. Schmidt was always writing to him, and it was always quite funny.
All in all, this is a great movie that deserves Oscar Nominations.
Rater #2
7/10. We meet Warren R. Schmidt as he's sitting in his office, briefcase in
hand, staring at the clock. When 5:00 finally comes, he leaves and
shuts off his light. He is now officially a retired man. He's not
exactly the happiest man in the world: he and his wife aren't exactly
best of friends, he got taken over by someone forty years younger
than he, and he's not super-friendly with his daughter Jeannie (Hope
Davis). And he's not happy about her choice of husband: Randall
Hertzel (Dermot Mulroney), a mullet-wearing "dude" who works in a
waterbed store.
Schmidt's wife Helen (June Squibb) suddenly dies, and he realizes how
much he took for granted. He wants to do something with his life, so
he sponsors a child in Africa named Udugu and goes on a road trip in
a Winnebago to ruin his daughter's wedding.
Jack Nicholson, who plays Schmidt, is perfectly cast (against his
earlier work). He's somewhat of a cynic and his facial expressions
(that don't change, just like a certain Mr. Clint Eastwood) sometimes
even seemed sinister, even though his character didn't support that.
However, Jack Nicholson can't stop being Jack Nicholson. I expected
him to come out and say, "And what do you expect me to do about it?"
I'm not saying he wasn't good. His performance was extremely good,
and he showed emotion, though not physically. I could just tell that
he was giving his all into the role.
However, I didn't feel very emotionally attached to the main
character. Sure, I felt with him (like all good movies should do),
but I didn't feel like I was going along for a ride with him. I
could, however, tell that director Alexander Payne put a lot of
symbolism, such as Schmidt liked driving his Winnebago because he was
looking down on people, making him feel important. However, when the
horses came, it made him feel caged up again.
The pace was slow but sure. New Line, who released the film, knew
that the majority of people who they appeal to (they did the Austin
Powers and Lord of the Rings series) would not like it, so they could
do whatever they wanted in it. So they deliberately paced is slowly,
but it didn't drag down the proceedings. In some ways, this movie
reminded me of Ghost World, because Schmidt is slowly seeing that his
world he loved is falling to shambles. He went to visit his home
where he lived before, but, to keep the secret and surprise, it
wasn't there. He couldn't bear to, after his wife's passing, see more
of his life go away, so he has to keep his daughter.
About Schmidt was in two parts: one of him coping with the loss and
the second of going to his daughter's wedding. The music was gentle
but brought out the mood. Sometimes the score was absent, improving
the scene more. The opening camera angles were very impressive; I
liked them a lot. It seemed like how the scenes were cut were sharp
and quick, but worked well with the subject matter.
Possibly the best, and worst, part of the film is Kathy Bates. She's
Randall's mother, and she is quite good. However, as you've probably
heard by now, she has a nude scene. Brrr� Thankfully, it's brief. She
had outrageous costumes which added to her (barely developed)
character.
The deeper meaning of About Schmidt is to do the best you can in
life. Schmidt didn't, and he felt unused and insignificant. The end
had something happen that really made him think about himself. You
can look at your life in two ways: either you didn't do all you
wanted to or you did everything you could. Schmidt did the former,
but didn't even think about the latter. The ending, by the way, is
quite nice.
The movie is played as a drama, but it had its funny moments. Most
were about Schmidt's quirks, but a few were sight gags and slapstick.
It was used, successfully, to lighten the mood. So, About Schmidt is
a touching, if emotionally lacking, film about life.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie
Rated R for some language and brief nudity.
Running time: 125 minutes
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