ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002) / ***
Directed by Alexander Payne. Screenplay by Payne and Jim Taylor, based on the novel by Louis Begley. Starring Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates, Hope Davis. Running time: 125 minutes. Rated AA by the MFCB. Reviewed on January 13th, 2002.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: Warren Schmidt (Nicholson) is a recently retired actuary who suddenly suffers a major loss. His daughter Jeannie (Davis) is about to marry Randall Hertzel (Mulroney), a used car salesman and pyramid scheme proponent. Adrift in life, Warren tries to reinvolve himself in Jeannie's affairs, only to find that she feels it's far too late for her father to start taking an interest in her.
Review: Moviegoers who regard acting above all other facets of the medium should love "About Schmidt". This is the film that proves what a truly great actor Jack Nicholson is. Sure, we had a pretty good idea before, but in most of his past roles -- from "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" to "The Pledge" -- it could be difficult to completely separate Jack from the person he was portraying. That's not true here: Warren Schmidt may be the most authentic character Nicholson has ever tackled. The determination he has invested in making Warren a genuine, complex entity is obvious. And he's consistent, too: every time the movie seems to tease a typical Jack moment, the actor steps back and behaves not like Jack, but like Warren. Other fine efforts are in evidence here: Davis, whose Jeannie has seized on her fiance as a last chance at love and refuses to allow that belief to be shaken; Mulroney, who makes Randall odious enough that we understand Warren's feelings without descending into cartoonish loathsomeness; and Kathy Bates, whose turn as Roberta Hertzel is as memorable, unusual and discomfiting as any role in recent memory. It's unfortunate, though, that the script for "About Schmidt" fails to achieve the same standard. It's an uneven affair -- very good at the beginning and end, but meandering in the middle -- which suggests that another draft would not have gone amiss.
Copyright © 2003 Shannon Patrick Sullivan. Archived at The Popcorn Gallery, http://www.physics.mun.ca/~sps/movies.html
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