Alexander Payne’s movies are about subtle shifts that his characters make, not dramatic ones. When a retired Warren Schmidt loses his wife of 42 years, he looks at what is left of his life – a lonely existence and a faraway daughter who is about to marry a ‘nincompoop’ of a man, much against her father’s wishes. ‘About Schmidt’ is a moving film about an older man looking back at his life and wondering what he has achieved and what’s in store.
Warren Schmidt retires from Woodmen of the World Insurance, as a senior actuary and is on the verge of settling down to a retired life with his wife Helen. He and Helen are integral parts of each other’s lives, after four decades of marriage. But, Warren is unable to understand her and doubts that she understands him. One day, she collapses and dies and that leaves Warren with the prospect of having to live life alone in Omaha and having to put up with a weird son-in-law who he thinks is unfit for his daughter. He starts contributing to the upkeep of a poor African child Ndugu and writes letters to him, talking about the state of his mind.
He shares a distant relationship with his daughter and is needed only for his money and not for anything further participation in her life. Desperate to shake himself out of the morass of an unkempt house and an undisciplined life, he heads out on a road trip in his RV and tries to make a connection to his past – the place he was born, the university he went to and finally lands up at his daughter’s and make one final unsuccessful attempt to talk her out of her marriage to Randall. Now he has to reconcile to this and to living a life that is seemingly more and more worthless by the minute. Until, he receives a letter from Ndugu.
Alexander Payne is a fabulous screen writer. In every movie of his, he is able to use the elements of cinematic language to show characters in surroundings that tell us so much about them without the use of dialogue. In Schmidt’s case, the loneliness and worthlessness of being that he feels is brought out against the backdrop of long and winding roads of Nebraska and Colorado and pointless conversations that Schmidt tries to have with tyre store owners or Native Americans who run highway inns, that tell him nothing that is worthwhile. Slowly, he strips away every chance of hope or spark that Schmidt tries for and leaves him utterly naked towards the end. A finely crafted movie from the master.
Jack Nicholson delivers one of the best performances of his career. You often see him playing street-smart or quirky characters who have a zing about them that others don’t. As Schmidt, he plays a nobody, a man who has spent a lifetime working, providing for his family and once gone, will be ‘another brick in the wall’. His performance is a journey into the depths of futility, one that people shudder to undertake at this stage of their life. Kathy Bates as Randall’s mother is charming in a short role as a caring, yet nymphomaniacal mother of Randall.
‘About Schmidt’ is a master class from a master actor and director. Worth watching
