Review of About Schmidt (2002) by Mahmoud M — 07 Feb 2012

Jack Nicholson might just be the most diverse one-note actor alive. Seriously, Nicholson either has to play an evil boss or someone crazy, and sometimes, he'll play them both, which is stretch by one-note acting standards. Of course, nobody does it better, so I'm not going to complain, but it is nice to see him stretch and play something different: Some regular dude. I know it doesn't sound like a stretch, but considering that he'll be in something as taut and provocative as "The Departed" and then turn right around to do some sappy romantic-comedy that he was too old to be in 20 years ago, he, himself, has to be kind of nutty. Hey, with that amazing voice, he can do whatever he darn well pleases; it's the Morgan Freeman Principle. Of course, I bet some of you want me to just cut to the chase, because you must be asking, "So, what in Wolfgang Peteresen's glorious, Germantastic name is 'About Schmidt' really about?", and let me tell that "About Schmidt" ain't... about... schmothing! Oh sorry, that's not how you spell "nothing", and I should know, because I'm gonna be spelling that word a lot, including during a discussion about this film, because although there is some stuff going on here and there, on the whole, I'm not completely off the mark when I say that all but schmothing is happening.

The film opens up with a few building shots, and then Jack Nicholson sitting in his office chair, then leaving, and that whole process took - as I timed - "two" minutes. After that, sure enough, the film keeps at a constant speed - a slow one - and rarely picks up momentum. Editing is loose, leaving many a scene either overdrawn or just plain expendable, and it's all exacerbated by a quiet, sometimes ponderous tone, and it really draws the film out. The whole affair is close to twenty minutes too long, and to make matters worse, it's familiar to the point of almost being formulaic, not just as a film following a story like this, but as an Alexander Payne film, and while I have seen very little of his other work, I've seen enough to know that I've seen this before. The film is not tedious, neither in its familiarity or its looseness, but it isn't the most thrilling venture, and more often than not, a film like this would be forgettable. Of course, we're not talking about some indie movie geek fresh out of film school; we're talking about Alexander Payne, who's quite the big shot... I guess, because, again, I've seen very little of his other work, but he's one of one of my favorite critics' favorite directors, so I guess I have to like him. No, but seriously though, as little as I've seen from him, I've seen enough to not only see his traditional missteps, but many of his traditional strengths, and there's plenty of them in this film to keep it going.

The script has that usual "Payne Punch-Up", being subtley snappy in both realistic and exaggerated fashions. Payne's contructions of his world and characters are highly detailed and fit into their own reality, making some of the most far-fetched events or behavior seem to snap in, yet not so much to where the exaggerations aren't still palpable enough for Payne to get his satire across. For this, we not only have to thank writer Alexander Payne... or James Taylor, or who ever his writing sidekick is, but also "director" Alexander Payne, who's rarely delivers knock-out direction (Sorry Martin Thomas, that's just me), but always does a pretty sharp job, and does the very same here, keeping the film at a steady pace that may be too steady, but that only makes the emotional highs, from humor to darkness, hit that much more. I'm particularly appreciative of how he managed to execute the death scene of Schmidt's wife, Helen, very early on in the film, as it's not terribly emotional, but subtle and rather gracefully bleak in tone, being steady and heavy and Payne really defines what this film is going to be all about and just what the Warren R. Schmidt character is all about. The only person who matches Payne in his portrayal of of the Warren Schmidt character is, of course, his performer, leading man Jack Nicholson, who, I must say, is most certainly not delivering one of the best performances of his career, Mr. Consensus Writer. Of course, that's not saying much, because it's still Jack Nicholson, and sure enough, while he is with such little material, he is consistently deeply charismatic, enough so for he, alone, to keep the film going even at its lowest points. Of course, on the rare occasion where he is with genuine acting material, he really delivers, showing that he still has plenty of that powerful acting talent that, particularly in the presence of his also excellent co-stars, creates a strong surge that's really worth remembering about this film.

At the end of Schmidt's trip down memory lane, you're likely to feel as though you took your own trip down that way, as this is some familiar stuff, both as far Alexander Payne films go and films of its genre go, and it's a trip that runs a little too steadily and way too long, but what keeps the gas running is Payne's clever script and direction, as well as a mostly underwritten, but consistently charismatic performance by Jack Nicholson, leaving "About Schmidt" to drive off into the distance as another rather touching and thoroughly charming installment in the Alexander Payne collection.

3/5 - Good.