About Schmidt | | Cast : | Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney | | Director : | Alexander Payne | | Studio : | New Line Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound | | Released Date : | December 20, 2002 | | DVD Released Date : | June 07, 2005 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 28, 2005 | | Summary | I'm a sap for narratives | Content
 | A rented this a month ago and I must say I'm still thinking about it. This is not the Jack we commonly see courtside at Lakers games. In fact, this character smiles so rarely that you will forget who you're watching. I was especially ashamed that I didn't recognize Howard Hesseman the first time through. I am a huge WKRP fan. He does such a good job that I didn't notice him either. Jack's character has the same loneliness of One Hour Photo. The same quirky cast as Garden State or Ghost World. Not an inspirational film. Real. Gritty. Nearly a commercial for Sally Struthers 35 cents a day to an underpriviledged third world child. The same guy who directed Election is responsible for this one. More of the same nice work. I feel the bad reviews are from people who want to leave the theatre clicking their heels together, no matter what the film is about. This one hit me opposite of BIG FISH where I enjoyed the destination more than the journey. Although the ending is good, the journey is the meat and potatoes of this one. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 28, 2005 | | Summary | Yow! | Content
| I watched this dvd while wearing "Pampers" training pants, just to be safe. They didn't help.
However... I'll give "About Schmidt" two stars, because anything's better than watching that *sshole Steve Martin.
Yes, I am over the age of 13.
Thank You |
| Rating | | | Date | July 07, 2005 | | Summary | PFFTT | Content
| ok all i have to say is that jack nicholson bored me to tears in the most pointless dry movie i had ever seen. ok i mean i watched this movie not even a month ago, and yet i can't recall anything from it it was so boring. all i remember was he went to see his daughter get married in denver, kathy bates hits on him, and some weird wacky stuff like him making out with some young lady in a trailer.... bottom line.. this movie sucks.. and i like movies alot but this is by far the worst movie i have ever come across! |
| Rating | | | Date | June 27, 2005 | | Summary | A humorous film about old age | Content
| Many young people these days want to be able to define their lives as a whole by a good job, a spouse and a nice suburban home. An equal amount like to live different and alternative life styles, but even in these modern times, kids still want to grow up as comfortable as possible. About Schmidt is the profile of a man who has lived his life as comfortably as possible and as we are brought into his life, he is being forced to retire from a company he devoted most of his life to. After only twenty minutes into the film, his wife dies as well. Warren Schmidt, played by Jack Nicholson, now is a widow with no job and no purpose to live. He now questions for the first time in his life if he has done anything great in his life, at the exact time his daughter is getting married to some untrustworthy loser who Schmidt cannot stand, but has yet to speak up.
His life is narrated at certain parts of the film in letters being sent to a child he has adopted after calling a sort of "Change A Life" foundation that asks for $22 a month. He uses the letters as an outlet for his temper, which is scathing, and his sadness, which is without abundance. Warren Schmidt is not a very happy man, we come to learn through his letters. He has had a younger man take over his job with absolutely no problem. The new worker has no problem getting the job down, and this depresses Schmidt to no end. He dislikes seeing the fact that his job is so easily replaced and for the first time in his life, he questions if he did it right.
About Schmidt is a film about a depressed man who goes driving around the country, visiting various places that once held some significant value to him, such as the home he grew up in (has now become a tire seller), and his old alma matter. He also pays a visit by the home of his soon to be son-in-law's family, who are an odd bunch who express their emotions loudly and in ways that Schmidt cannot understand. The mother of that family is played by Kathy Bates in a role that calls for her to shout obscenities a lot (watch Nicholson's subtle, yet disturbed reaction to them) and go fully nude (very surprising), yet is the perfect match for Schmidt. She is his exact opposite, though close to his age, and has a zest for life that he cannot yet understand. While she goes about thinking their kids' marriage will work out well, Schmidt doesn't think so and he expresses this to his daughter, who plans on going ahead with the marriage anyway. He cannot stop what is to come, he realizes, but maybe he can come to accept it over time.
I rented this film expecting a comedy, but what I got was an interesting look into the life of a man with little interests outside of his job. A friend of mine devotes his life to Everquest, an online roleplaying game that he plays most of the week, and he has met a girl online that he is planning to move upstate to see. I have no problem with him going to live his life the way he wants, but the fact that my friend has little interests in anything outside of Everquest does not bode well. He really does not care much for reading, watching films or doing anything other than playing his online game. I cannot know the kind of person he will become because he is planning on leaving Texas for Massachusetts in a year, but I can only hope he will become a good one. The fact that I will not know him later on in life is sad, considering he is a close friend I have known since second grade, but if we ever have correspondence, I will be hoping that his replies are filled with a want to live life after he learns more about it.
About Schmidt concerns a man who never stood a chance. He lived his life by the books and came to loathe it later. It is not a film that will appeal to many people my age, though it is recommended viewing material. It says that people who go about life with nothing driving them but their jobs and their material possessions will come to live hollow lives in most, but not all, cases. I feel this is a good lesson for young people to learn, as many are driven in life by the thought of more and more possessions and their job, and About Schmidt carries his message, along with a good performance by Jack Nicholson that successfully hides his own love of life and replaces it with depression and pondering. It is not a film that shows us a place we want to one day be, but more or less a place in life we would do well to avoid. It says to not fall under the shroud of anonymity, but become an anomaly, or at least someone who has lived meaningfully.
A very good movie overall. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 02, 2005 | | Summary | Jack Nicholson took this role? What a shame. | Content
| Many of Jack's movies have a little humor, action, and somewhat of a plot. After the first hour of watching this story of a lonely man who corresponds with a mail-order sponsor child, I began falling asleep. I have never seen a movie more boring and plotless. However I gave the movie a chance, dragging for over 2 hours, which ended in bitter sorrow. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE HORRIBLE. If you like slow and depressing movies, this one is for you. Sorry Mr. Nicholson, stick with action and real comedy movies.
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