About Schmidt
Composite Score: 81.5
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, Kathy Bates, Howard Hesseman, and Len Cariou
Director: Alexander Payne
Writers: Louis Begley, Alexander Payne, and Jim Taylor
Genres: Drama, Comedy, Coming of Age
MPAA Rating: R for some language and brief nudity
Box Office: $105.83 million worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
About Schmidt is a dark comedy about a recently retired man coming to terms with how life is going to look in his twilight years. Jack Nicholson plays Warren Schmidt, a Nebraska man whose job has just encouraged him to retire, whose wife is aging rapidly, and whose daughter is marrying a man he does not particularly care for. This combination of situations creates an entertaining and at times humorous look at the transition from working into retirement. Nicholson delivers a phenomenal performance as the lead, and the story is wild in its movements, keeping your attention throughout.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
Dark humor is certainly not for everybody, and if you have unresolved issues surrounding your parent’s relationship with your significant other or the loss of a parent/loved one, this might trigger some things in you. A large part of the film’s comedy centers around Warren’s distaste for his daughter’s fiancé (well-deserved I might add, but I’ll get into that later). For some people that might hit closer to home than others and not feel as funny as it did to me. Also, Warren’s wife Helen dies early on in the film, creating a rather dramatic situation in the midst of this irreverent comedy, and I wasn’t totally sure if that particular part was supposed to be humorous. It worked with the story but didn’t match the tone of the surrounding scenes all too well – maybe that was the goal, communicating the unexpected nature of death, even in old age.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
For starters, this film is darkly comedic. Dermot Mulroney has the most ridiculous mustache-pony tail combo going on, and you immediately agree with Warren’s assessment of his daughter’s fiancé. The man sells water beds and tries to rope Warren into a multilevel marketing company (pyramid scheme) right after Helen’s funeral – it’s a hilariously bad look for a potential son-in-law. Randall’s family also is a rather funny sticking point for Warren when he finally meets them. His brother looks like what the internet would refer to as a “basement dweller”; his mother is a multi-time divorcee with an aggressively sexual streak, hilariously acted by Kathy Bates; his father comes across as caring but only actually does it for attention. Again, these characters are ridiculous, and Jeannie’s blindness to that only raises the comedy of the film.
Jack Nicholson plays old man who doesn’t want to lose control so well, perhaps because he had already reached that point by the film’s release. He was sixty-five when the film released, making the character of Warren closely relatable to his age. Clearly, Jack’s career did not end with About Schmidt, but it must have been something that was on his mind, and he channeled it very well. The frustration, bumbling nature, confusion, bad social skills, and everything else associated with retired Baby Boomers were all heavily on display. Many of his mannerisms were reminiscent of my grandfathers in their old age, and even more recently, of my father-in-law as he now approaches retirement. Obviously, Warren’s role was more exaggerated and played mostly for comedy, so it wasn’t entirely realistic, but it was eerily close to reality.
Usually, the term coming-of-age refers to young people maturing into adults, but this film feels like a coming of age for a working man maturing into a retiree. The situations Warren faces are a new reality that he has to come to terms with. By the end of the film, he has come to terms with them in a rather defeatist way. The film’s last scene brings catharsis for Warren and for the audience as he accepts the fact that he basically can change very little of his new reality while also discovering that he can still have an impact (ironically though it may be) through the money and letters he sends to Ndugu, the African child he adopted through an infomercial at the beginning of the film. It comes full circle, and Warren finally fits his role as a retired adult, coming into his new age.
Though not for everyone, About Schmidt’s dark comedy, skillful portrayal of retirement, and exploration of what it means to become old make it a film worth watching. Nicholson and Kathy Bates both received reasonably deserved Oscar nominations for their roles in this film, and it holds up well as something worth visiting again. Its accuracy and comedy make its place among the Greatest Films of All Time make perfect sense.
