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About Schmidt- 1/3/03 - R - 125m
Jack Nicholson
- Warren Schmidt
Kathy Bates - Roberta Hertzel
Hope Davis- Jeannie Schmidt
Director: Alexander Payne
JEF
Possibly the 2nd saddest movie I’ve ever seen.
First off, let me start by saying that I don’t like sad movies.
I go to movies to escape reality. The last thing I want to do is to go
see a movie about a guy whose life is worse off than mine.
Welcome to Warren Schmidt’s life.
Storyline: Warren is newly retired. He’s an average
Joe, who is in the insurance industry. I would put a spoiler warning in
here, but since the clip in the previews of this movie spoiled it first
I don’t think I need to. He’s newly widowed too. (The previews
claim this when Kathy Bates is sitting in the hot tub with him.) And his
daughter who he’s not kept in touch with is about to marry a guy
that he doesn’t like. His life is just quickly spinning out of control,
with extreme life changing events. The movie is about some of his road
trips on the way to his daughters wedding in a RV.
Now, I will say that overall I “enjoyed” everyone’s
acting. Jack Nicholson played the part of Warren Schmidt. At times he
looked like he didn’t have a brain in his head. Other times his
expressions spoke volumes about the situation he was in. Kathy Bates played
the part of the Groom’s Mother (Roberta). She was a fiery woman,
with a mouth like a truck driver at times. Dermot Mulroney played the
part of the quirky groom (Randall Hertzell), who was a waterbed salesman.
Hope Davis played the role of Jennie, Warren’s Daughter and Bride.
Basically everyone played his or her role well.
The problem for me with this movie was the whole basic storyline. I admit
I got sucked into feeling sorry for “Warren”. But the ending
of the movie was supposed to kinda make up for all the sad things in his
life, and although it was a touching moment it wasn’t enough. I
still came out from this movie feeling bummed out. Again, I don’t
like to leave a movie with this feeling. The most bummed I want to get
after leaving a movie is that I have to throw away a bit of my super-size
soda that I paid about $8 for because I couldn’t finish it.
Another thing that was upsetting about this movie was the audience’s
reactions. This movie was getting some hysterical laughs, and I just didn’t
get it. Some of the situations were sad, but because Nicholson’s
hair was messed up, or there was some quirky clarinet music in the background,
people must have thought it was funny. Was it? I thought I was a fan of
“Dark Comedies” but now I’m starting to question that.
I really think some people get confused when they go to see a movie. They
think they’re supposed to laugh at everything. And rather than think
about the situation, they just open their mouth and laugh. Answer me this…
do you think this is a funny scene? Warren is sitting in a hot tub relaxing
his sore neck, when Roberta comes out and joins him. After a brief “flash”
Warren quickly becomes uncomfortable being in a hot tub with his daughter’s
soon to be Mother-in-law who happens to be naked, and just finished a
longwinded speech about how sexual she is. Warren is “touched”
by a possibly innocent touch by Roberta on the knee, and Warren decides
that’s enough. He quickly leaves the hot tub, and grabs a towel
and excuses himself. The next scene he’s shown exiting the house
with the towel wrapped around him, and he’s in his bathing suit
hurrying for his RV. That’s it. The woman in front of us was about
to shoot milk through her nose from laughing so hard.
Oh well, I just find it difficult to laugh at other people’s misfortunes
even if they are fictional characters in a movie.
I would only recommend someone seeing this movie if they are nowhere near
retirement age, or have not lost a loved one recently, or has a loving
family with no traces of dysfunction. Or… If you think any of the
above situations are the least bit comical, then you might enjoy this
movie. Me… I don’t.
Jef
PS> Now I’m depressed again. I will be going
home to watch a movie on DVD or TV tonight. And incase you’re wondering,
I think the saddest movie I ever saw was probably “Old Yeller”.