IMDb > About Schmidt (2002)
About Schmidt
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About Schmidt (2002) More at IMDbPro »

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About Schmidt (2002) -- Warren Schmidt is a man in his 60's. While trying to run his daughter's life, he realizes that he wasted his.
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Overview

User Rating:
7.3/10   50,585 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 10% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Alexander Payne
Writers (WGA):
Louis Begley (novel)
Alexander Payne (screenplay) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for About Schmidt on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
20 December 2002 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Drama more
Tagline:
Schmidt Happens
Plot:
Warren Schmidt is a man in his 60's. While trying to run his daughter's life, he realizes that he wasted his. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 19 wins & 29 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(59 articles)
De Niro to the 7th? (Oscar's Male Hierarchy)
 (From FilmExperience. 6 November 2009, 3:46 AM, PST)

Clooney will likely have Descendants
 (From Corona's Coming Attractions. 3 November 2009, 7:58 AM, PST)

User Comments:
Life's quirks more (576 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jack Nicholson ... Warren Schmidt

Kathy Bates ... Roberta Hertzel

Hope Davis ... Jeannie Schmidt

Dermot Mulroney ... Randall Hertzel
June Squibb ... Helen Schmidt

Howard Hesseman ... Larry Hertzel
Harry Groener ... John Rusk
Connie Ray ... Vicki Rusk

Len Cariou ... Ray Nichols
Mark Venhuizen ... Duncan Hertzel
Cheryl Hamada ... Saundra

Phil Reeves ... Minister in Denver

Matt Winston ... Gary Nordin - Warren's Replacement

James M. Connor ... Randall's Best Man (as James Micheal Connor)
Jill Anderson ... Bridesmaid Reading St. Paul
more
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for some language and brief nudity.
Runtime:
125 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS
Filming Locations:
Boulder, Colorado, USA more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Listed on a cinema marquee: (Left) Closed for repairs / (Right) Sideways (2004), the next movie directed by Alexander Payne. more
Goofs:
Errors in geography: When Warren is in Colorado, there are Nebraska license plates on cars parked in driveways. more
Quotes:
Warren Schmidt: Relatively soon, I will die. Maybe in 20 years, maybe tomorrow, it doesn't matter. Once I am dead and everyone who knew me dies too, it will be as though I never existed. What difference has my life made to anyone. None that I can think of. None at all. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004) more
Soundtrack:
Wedding Song (There Is Love) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
84 out of 102 people found the following comment useful.
Life's quirks, 1 September 2004
Author: Tim Johnson from Fremantle, Australia

I love Nicolson and I thought his work in this film was as good as any I have seen him do in any of his previous films. My accolades must begin with the writers for creating such a beautiful novel and script-a perfect canvas for the many fine actors in this film upon which they wove their considerable magic. There were no killings, no car chases, no violence of any kind-I'm surprised that Hollywood distributed it.

Such a slice of life-American life with it's many warts-warts that the Americans probably don't even recognize: Winnebagos like moving palaces, freeway monuments to genocide, business that consumes it's workers only to dump them unceremoniously, too much of everything that amounts to emptiness, etc., etc. The novel by Begley, upon which the film was based, illustrated this consumer emptiness brilliantly by the inclusion of the bookends to the film, the sponsorship of the Tanzanian child by Schmidt. The child's material emptiness was contrasted with Schmidt's emotional emptiness in a way America does not recognize much less watch on the screen.

The last part of the movie dealing with the marriage of Schmidt's daughter to a man who came from a diametrically opposite "new age" family was an unstated acknowledgment by his daughter that she wanted nothing of her father's values-she wanted a complete break and she was going to marry the break.

A fascinating, complex movie and I'm sorry I didn't see it much earlier.

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