About Schmidt Review
by Homer Yen (homer_yen AT yahoo DOT com)January 9th, 2003
"Schmidt" Teaches a Valuable Lesson
by Homer Yen
(c) 2003
"About Schmidt" is the movingly poignant and quietly powerful story of a man who has nothing, and when he finally summons enough curiosity to find meaning, he horrifically discovers that it is too late to do anything. It is quite a sorrowful tale. While the film does successfully deliver a positive lesson in life, it is certainly not one of those embraceably feel-good films. You can probably surmise as much from the movie poster in which our protagonist, Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson), peers at you with a sort of quiet desperation as a single rain cloud threatens overhead. Here is a sad and lonely man who is bereft of passion and whose life passes by without a single spark that has reinforced his existence. An image of an airplane descending as it runs out of fuel comes to mind. Its trajectory may be controlled, but the inevitable will is ugly.
Indeed, for those who seek happy endings or situations that result in life-affirming epiphanies, this is not for you. The film is a mixture of moderately long pauses while he deeply reflects his situation as well as introspective voice-overs. In one of his most bittersweet musings, he realizes that once you die and everyone you know dies, it's like you never existed. Certainly, Warren Schmidt has really made no difference at all.
Now that he has reached retirement, he realizes that he has nothing but time on his empty hands. Life is growing short, and he wants to do something. Perhaps, he could find some meaning if he could be more actively involved in his daughter's (Hope Davis) upcoming wedding. He doesn't want to help with the preparations so much as he wants to discourage her betrothal to a dimwit who promotes pyramid schemes and who looks like he goes to a hairstylist who is blind.
Most of the chuckles from "About Schmidt" are derived from this nincompoop and his dysfunctional family. As Warren's life as been so monotonous all these years, he is frightened of the mom (Kathy Bates), who at one point is astonishingly merry and at another point easily agitated. It's a sense of independence and fire that has always eluded Warren and now frightens him.
The other humorous element stems from his letter-writing relationship with a child that he sponsors through one of those save-a-child groups. He engages in this program, perhaps, to make some kind of small difference. But he apparently can't quite conceive the nature of his generosity, and instead begins to write long confessional letters, spilling his anguish onto the pages. We wonder if he really believes that a 6-year old Tanzanian boy name Ndugu really understands. This shows that Warren Schmidt needs to vent, but really has no normal outlets.
There are two measured rewards that one gets from seeing this film. If you see many films yearly and find that a majority of them seem blandly homogenous, this one is a real triumph in that the premise of the film seems so ordinary and the pace is slow, but the result inspires. Also, Jack Nicholson delivers a rich performance that allows us to empathize with a man who really isn't even anybody at all. That's quite an incredible feat.
Grade: B+
S: 1 out of 3
L: 3 out of 3
V: 0 out of 3
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