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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
LYN
Question: What is sadder than an unexamined life? I mean
other than this movie?
Answer: Well…Nothing I Guess.
Enter Writer/Director Alexander Payne to give us a screen version answer
to perhaps just that very query (based of course on the Louis Begley novel
of the same name). This film is merely a tragic portrait of a self-absorbed
man named Warren Schmidt (played by Jack Nicholson), a recent retiree,
widower, and a third world orphan's foster parent. All newly acquired
titles he received within a few weeks time span. Yes, enough for anyone
to swallow in a short period. But our hero now adds the self-appointed
and formidable task of a good soul search too. Unfortunately our character,
Warren Schmidt has the depth of a radish, and seems rather inadequately
packed for this journey of ones moral fiber.
Now this is where the confusion set in my mind, because I could not figure
if this was intended to be an amusing adventure perhap laced with some
profoundness or poignancy, or perhaps just a vividly stark painting of
a wasted life discovered too late and far beyond repair. Based on my fellow
moviegoers reaction to the film you'd think it was a cross between "Animal
House" and "On Golden Pond". And unfortunately I didn't
find any the shine of either movie, nor any conceivable mixture of the
two. This film was plain and simply uninteresting. I found no humor in
its content, or felt any remorse for the main character's plight. He had
no one but himself to blame for his life, and that's it. Tragic and sad?
Yes. Entertaining? No. It happens all too often in the real world to be
considered the least bit charming, and shame on anyone for laughing at
it.
Lyn