In the course of critiquing films, one is bound to stumble across one so shocking and so unexpected that it leaves the reviewer gasping for words. This was something of the case after I saw `About Schmidt,' but in other ways this description is the farthest thing from the truth. The end of the film is a mundane and non-surprising, but the element it gives is nothing but a surprise. Maybe I'm babbling here, but follow along and maybe you will see my point.
Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) is bored. Having recently retired as an actuary at a major Omaha insurance company, only to be replaced by a young nitwit, Schmidt is questioning his entire life, including Helen (June Squibb), his wife of forty-two years who he professes to have woken up and wondered `Who is this woman sleeping next to me?'
Schmidt's only consolation and relief to this new found life of retired `ease' is Ndugu, a Tanzanian orphan that he has `adopted' for $22 a month and has taken to writing long epistles detailing his fears. But Schmidt's orderly life is turned upside down when his wife suddenly dies.
This tragedy causes him to set off on a roadtrip through the Great Plains and his soul to Denver where his daughter, Jeannie (Hope Davies) is preparing to get married to Randall Herzel (Dermot Mulroney), a waterbed salesman with a balding mullet (you'll see). In Denver, he will have a, uh, personal encounter with his future son-in-law's nutty mother (Kathy Bates), which adds to the impact on a life of order.
What amazed me most about `About Schmidt,' is director Alexander Payne's use of silence. It sounds crazy, but in this world of sound, the occasional meditative aura of silence improves this film by leaps and bounds because it is a technical trick seen in a very few other movies of the modern era.
But the silence would not be nearly as effective without Jack Nicholson as the star. To just go into a cinema to watch Nicholson's facial expressions is an experience that ANY theater buff or prospective actor should do. Nicholson, without a doubt, carries the film like few other actors of his, or any other generation could aptly do.
Along with Jack, actress Kathy Bates gives a standout performance. She is able to juxtapose herself with the taciturn Nicholson that runs the gamut from the extroverted Roberta (her character) to the introvert Schmidt. I also grudgingly have to give props to Bates for her courage. Why, you ask? Well, you need to see it to believe it.
There is one other thing of note that I mustn't fail to mention-the unique plot device of the voiceover letter. Clearly the highlight of the film, the several letters that Schmidt writes to his African sponsored child are some of the funniest works of writing that I have ever seen. Truly, the entire audience cracks up to hear the familiar beginning to words of wisdom, `Dear Ndugu '
`About Schmidt' is all about modern philosophy and satire. This is a movie about ordinary people doing fairly ordinary things and living fairly ordinary lives as they try to impact the lives of others. Philosophy speaks through the film that the need to impact other's lives is a needed part of the soul, which provides food for thought from an arena better known for food from the popper. I liked this film a lot, but it unsettled me at times, but not enough to prevent my bestowing a 9.5 out of 10.
Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) is bored. Having recently retired as an actuary at a major Omaha insurance company, only to be replaced by a young nitwit, Schmidt is questioning his entire life, including Helen (June Squibb), his wife of forty-two years who he professes to have woken up and wondered `Who is this woman sleeping next to me?'
Schmidt's only consolation and relief to this new found life of retired `ease' is Ndugu, a Tanzanian orphan that he has `adopted' for $22 a month and has taken to writing long epistles detailing his fears. But Schmidt's orderly life is turned upside down when his wife suddenly dies.
This tragedy causes him to set off on a roadtrip through the Great Plains and his soul to Denver where his daughter, Jeannie (Hope Davies) is preparing to get married to Randall Herzel (Dermot Mulroney), a waterbed salesman with a balding mullet (you'll see). In Denver, he will have a, uh, personal encounter with his future son-in-law's nutty mother (Kathy Bates), which adds to the impact on a life of order.
What amazed me most about `About Schmidt,' is director Alexander Payne's use of silence. It sounds crazy, but in this world of sound, the occasional meditative aura of silence improves this film by leaps and bounds because it is a technical trick seen in a very few other movies of the modern era.
But the silence would not be nearly as effective without Jack Nicholson as the star. To just go into a cinema to watch Nicholson's facial expressions is an experience that ANY theater buff or prospective actor should do. Nicholson, without a doubt, carries the film like few other actors of his, or any other generation could aptly do.
Along with Jack, actress Kathy Bates gives a standout performance. She is able to juxtapose herself with the taciturn Nicholson that runs the gamut from the extroverted Roberta (her character) to the introvert Schmidt. I also grudgingly have to give props to Bates for her courage. Why, you ask? Well, you need to see it to believe it.
There is one other thing of note that I mustn't fail to mention-the unique plot device of the voiceover letter. Clearly the highlight of the film, the several letters that Schmidt writes to his African sponsored child are some of the funniest works of writing that I have ever seen. Truly, the entire audience cracks up to hear the familiar beginning to words of wisdom, `Dear Ndugu '
`About Schmidt' is all about modern philosophy and satire. This is a movie about ordinary people doing fairly ordinary things and living fairly ordinary lives as they try to impact the lives of others. Philosophy speaks through the film that the need to impact other's lives is a needed part of the soul, which provides food for thought from an arena better known for food from the popper. I liked this film a lot, but it unsettled me at times, but not enough to prevent my bestowing a 9.5 out of 10.