About Schmidt

Filed Under: Film, Reviews | Article Tags : DVD review

By: The Dweeb

DVD Features

Video: 1.85:1 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Surround, DTS Surround

9 Deleted Scenes,
Original Theatrical Trailer,
DVD-ROM Content

Theatrical release: 12/13/2002
DVD released on 6/3/2003 by New Line Home Entertainment
Running time of 124 minutes

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates, Hope Davis, Dermont Mulroney

Director: Alexander Payne

Plot: Warren Schmidt is about to experience a bittersweet slice of life. Newly retired, he and his wife Helen have big plans to see America-but an unexpected twist changes everything. Now Schmidt is determined to stop his daughter’s wedding to an underachieving waterbed salesman. From meeting the groom’s eccentric parents to sponsoring a Tanzanian foster child, Schmidt sets off on his mission…and gets lost along the road to self-discovery.

I had heard a lot of buzz surrounding this little film as it became time for Oscar nominations earlier this year. I had no idea of what this film is about, and heard that Nicholson pulls in a fantastic performance. Well, as the title implies, it’s About Schmidt. It was right there in front of me, of course you don’t realize that until you are almost halfway through the film.

To put it in general terms, this film is a quiet and slow moving affair. It’s a character study of one man, Warren Schmidt, a newly retired insurance actuary, and his struggle in coming to terms with a new chapter in his life. He is, to put it mildly, a tired sad old man who can’t seem to deal too much with his life’s twists and turns. A very self loathing, pathetic individual, Nicholson portrays him exactly that. Even down to this puttering walk he does throughout the movie. I got the feeling that Warren didn’t think very highly of most of the surrounding people in his world. He may have thought they were beneath him, including his own wife.

Upon looking back at his life, he seems to regret many choices he made and is unhappy with the end result. He goes on a soul searching trip in his motorhome, visiting his past. Warren tries in vain to convince his daughter, Jeannie (Hope Davis), to not marry her mullet haired fiancé Randall. He knows she can do better, but ultimately has to bite his tongue at the wedding.

The rest of Randall’s family provide for some interesting interactions during what would otherwise be a pretty boring film. Randall (Dermot Mulroney) means well but can’t seem to get on the good side of Warren. His dealings in pyramid schemes make him suspect, but in the end he really is a nice guy. After all, he was breastfed until he was five!

Another standout was his mother, played by Kathy Bates. As usual she adds some fire into the drama. Always at odds with her long winded ex-husband (Howard Hesseman), she tries to welcome Warren into the family. Maybe a bit too strong for his taste. Seeing Kathy sans clothing is not on my to do list, I was not expecting to see that. Her eccentricities make for a good laugh during this flick.

There isn’t really much else to this film, when you get right down to it, and this DVD’s extras reflect that. This package is very sparse , but it does come with a nice DTS soundtrack option. The only things worth looking at are the deleted scenes, which have nice intros as to why they were cut. There is also this strange item on there that the editing staff put together with some extra footage of Omaha. It’s more of an editing exercise and is really boring to watch. I could only get through the first two, there are something like 9 versions of the same footage! Well, anything to fill the DVD I guess.

Although it is a fine movie, I don’t regard this as something that is truly terrific. I am not incensed to watch this movie repeatedly, so renting it once would suffice.