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by Frank Wilkins
Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) sits in his barren office, the boxes of his belongings piled in the corner, the clock ticking down to 5:00 pm. Today is his last day of work before retirement as an insurance actuarial. He spent his entire career calculating the life expectancy of others, yet can't even begin to imagine the first day of the remainder of his own. The speeches at his retirement dinner mean nothing, his wife suddenly becomes an unrecognizable old lady and his replacement, the young MBA graduate, seems to have no need for the actuarial products he spent a lifetime producing. His life seems pointless; he lacks ambition and is in no way prepared for the lack of structure that retirement will bring to his life.

Warren's life falls into an even deeper tailspin of uselessness after his wife suddenly dies while cleaning the kitchen floor. The joy in About Schmidt is how gracefully, and with such individuality, Warren falls apart. Nicholson is able to chew up large chunks of screen time without saying more than a handful of words, yet the story never becomes boring despite its sometimes snail-like pace. He acts through his demeanor and facial expressions that tell us volumes about the life of a man “who wanted to be someone special, yet faces the reality that when he dies and all those who knew him die, no one will know he ever existed.” Warren begins to neglect his household duties, yet suddenly feels free from the burdens of life for the first time in his 66 years. As time passes, Warren begins to learn that despite the control his wife had on his life, he was able to live through her. She was his captive audience, the only person who really wanted to hear what he had to say. He goes through her belongings and sniffs her perfumes with a lovingness that comes from 48 years of companionship. He then urinates on the floor as a rebellion to the control she had on his life.

Warren is pulled from the dregs as he discovers a purpose to his life. He decides to prevent the marriage of his daughter (Hope Davis) to Randall (Dermot Mulroney), a boorish waterbed salesman who sports the sweetest mullet this side of Dave Sheridan in Ghost World. Warren loads up the 35-foot Winnebago - the one that he and his wife bought but never had the opportunity to use - and heads to Denver to join his daughter before her wedding. Along the way, he visits the cheesy roadside attractions with a passion and interest that is both sad and funny at the same time.

A running bit throughout the story is Warren’s letter writing to a Tanzanian orphan, Ndugu, with whom he connected through one of those famine relief television commercials soliciting pledges of support. He sends his $22 monthly payment, but more importantly, he bares his soul in letters he writes to the little six year-old giving us, the audience, true insight into his personal feelings. These letters are a humorous outlet for us, but more importantly, are a device for Warren to see the truth about his life - but as we learn in the final scene, the letters are anything but funny.

Warren arrives in Denver to discover that he must stay with Randall’s mom, Roberta, played masterfully by Kathy Bates. We are treated to a masterpiece of acting when these two are on the screen together. Warren the conservative, uptight rube and Roberta, the earthy, down-home free spirit, have a discernable chemistry that I wish co-writers Payne and Taylor would have spent more time with.

About Schmidt is a sad and touching tale that addresses humor in a pitiful yet not condescending manner. Although it is a deep and wonderful story born of genuine creativity and masterful skill, it is the performances, especially that of Jack Nicholson, that put About Schmidt on a higher plane of cinematic greatness. Nicholson takes a complex yet introverted and lifeless character in Warren Schmidt, a role with very little dialogue and seemingly little opportunity to shine, and manages to bring it to the forefront and make us all see a little bit of ourselves in Warren.

Frank Wilkins

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