About Schmidt

About Schmidt
Directed by	Alexander Payne
Written by	Novel: Louis Begley Screenplay: Alexander Payne Jim Taylor
Produced by	Michael Besman and Harry Gittes
Starring	Jack Nicholson Hope Davis Dermot Mulroney Howard Hesseman and Kathy Bates
Cinematography	James Glennon
Edited by	Kevin Tent
Music by	Rolfe Kent
Distributed by	New Line
Release date	December 13, 2002
Running time	125 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30,000,000
Box office	$105,834,556

About Schmidt is a 2002 American drama film directed by Alexander Payne and starring Jack Nicholson as Warren Schmidt and Hope Davis as his daughter Jeannie. It is loosely based on the 1996 novel of the same title by Louis Begley. Many of the scenes were filmed on location, especially in Omaha, Nebraska and Denver, Colorado. According to the special features on the DVD, a number of non-professional local residents appeared in the film, portraying their real-life professions. The actual Woodmen of the World headquarters building in Omaha was utilized in the film, and Jack Nicholson was made an honorary member of the company during filming.

The main narrative of the film follows Schmidt as he goes on a road trip in order to attend the wedding of his only daughter to a man and into a family he does not particularly like. The film was both a commercial and critical success.

Plot

Warren Schmidt is retiring from his position as an actuary with an insurance company in Omaha, Nebraska. Schmidt finds it hard to adjust to his new life and feels useless. One evening, he sees a television advertisement about a foster program for African children and decides to sponsor a child. He soon receives an information package with a photo of his foster child, a small Tanzanian boy named Ndugu Umbo, to whom he relates his life in a series of rambling letters.

Schmidt is given an impersonal retirement dinner. He visits his young successor's office to offer his help, but the offer is politely declined. As he leaves the building, Schmidt sees the contents and files of his office in the basement, set out for garbage collectors.

He describes to Ndugu his longtime alienation from his wife, who suddenly dies from a blood clot in her brain just after his retirement and their purchase of a Winnebago motor home. Friends arrive, along with his only daughter Jeannie and her fiance Randall Hertzel from Denver. They console him at the funeral, but Jeannie later berates him for taking his wife for granted, buying her a cheap casket. He asks her to move back for a while to take care of him, but she refuses.

Schmidt feels that Randall, a waterbed salesman, is unsuited to his daughter. Randall recommends the book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" by Harold Kushner to Schmidt and then tries to entice him into a pyramid scheme. After the couple leaves, Schmidt is alone.

He stops showering, is shown sleeping in front of the television, and going outside with a coat over pajamas to load up on frozen foods in the supermarket. In a closet he discovers some hidden love letters disclosing his wife's long-ago affair with a mutual friend. Schmidt angrily confronts him.

In order to find some control in his life, he decides to take a journey alone in his new Winnebago to see his daughter and convince her not to marry. He tells Jeannie he's headed out early to the wedding; she makes it clear she doesn't want him there until right before the ceremony.

Schmidt visits places from his past, including his hometown and college campus. His childhood home has been replaced by a tire shop. While at a trailer campground, he is a dinner guest of a friendly and sympathetic couple, but leaves in terror and embarrassment after he makes a pass at the wife. He apologizes to his late wife.

Schmidt arrives in Denver and stays at the home of Randall's mother. He wakes after a night in a water bed with severe pain. He meets the fiancé's family and again tries unsuccessfully to dissuade Jeannie from the marriage. Schmidt flees after the mother makes a pass at him in a hot tub. Schmidt attends the wedding and delivers a kind speech at the dinner, hiding his disapproval, although the (angry) subtext of what he's saying isn't lost on Jeannie.

Upon returning home to Omaha, his narrative to the orphan Ndugu questions what he has accomplished in life. Schmidt laments that he will soon be dead and that no one will remember him.

A pile of mail is waiting for him inside the empty house. Schmidt opens a surprise letter from Tanzania. It is from a nun, who writes that Ndugu is illiterate but enjoys Schmidt's letters and financial aid very much. With the money, Ndugu was able to receive medical care to treat an eye infection. The little boy's hand-drawn picture is enclosed, showing two smiling stick figures, one large and one small, holding hands in the blazing sun. Schmidt weeps, realizing that someone has benefited from his life after all.

Cast

• Jack Nicholson - Warren R. Schmidt
• Kathy Bates - Roberta Hertzel
• Hope Davis - Jeannie Schmidt
• Dermot Mulroney - Randall Hertzel
• June Squibb - Helen Schmidt
• Howard Hesseman - Larry Hertzel
• Harry Groener - Victor Rusk
• Connie Ray - Vicki Rusk
• Len Cariou - Ray Nichols

Awards

Jack Nicholson was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2003 and Kathy Bates was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

The film won a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture, as well as the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama. (Nicholson stated: "I'm a little surprised. I thought we made a comedy.").

It was also part of the Official Competition Selection at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.

Reception

The film has mostly gained positive review from critics in particular the two performances of Jack Nicholson and Kathy Bates who were both nominated for Academy Awards. The film has a rating of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and 90% from top critics with the Consensus being that "In this funny, touching character study, Nicholson gives one of the best performances of his career." Roger Ebert wrote for the Chicago Sun-Times that About Schmidt "is essentially a portrait of a man without qualities, baffled by the emotions and needs of others. That Jack Nicholson makes this man so watchable is a tribute not only to his craft, but to his legend: Jack is so unlike Schmidt that his performance generates a certain awe. Another actor might have made the character too tragic or passive or empty, but Nicholson somehow finds within Schmidt a slowing developing hunger, a desire to start living now that the time is almost gone." Michael Rechtshaffen of the Hollywood Reporter said that "It's a commanding Jack Nicholson lead performance that puts it into a sublime league of its own." Paul Clinton writing for CNN.com said that "About Schmidt is undoubtedly one of the finest films of the year. If you're not deeply touched by this movie, check your pulse."

Box office

• Opening weekend U.S. gross: $8,533,162
• Total U.S. box office gross: $65,010,106
• Total Worldwide box office gross $105,834,556

DVD Release

About Schmidt was released on DVD format and VHS but there has been no release of a Blu Ray version

See also

• Fictional actuaries

External links

• About Schmidt at IMDb
• About Schmidt at Rotten Tomatoes
• About Schmidt at Box Office Mojo