Review of About Schmidt (2002) by Robert R — 29 Sep 2012

About Schmidt, Jack is back and enough of that romantic rubbish he has been in as an oldie, this is a comedy/drama, and a good one too. This movie is mainly drama, but the comedy lifts it from seriousness, and ultimately eluding a boring cinematic viewing.

The plot follows Warren Schmidt, and if you could not tell, is played by Jack Nicholson. He retires at the age of sixty-six, and is starting to see the problems with his life. Here he starts to get bored with his life, and despise his wife. Well she dies, he starts to regret it and realise how much he needs her. The daughter is getting married to Randal. Randal is not the husband Schmidt had in mind, and starts a journey of self-discovery around in his Winnebago. Throughout the whole movie he is writing a note to a sponsor child in Africa, so a lot of narration.

The plot does sound bland, but it is quite funny. It even has some profound things in it, Jack kissing a thirty year old, a naked Kathy Bates... It blends comedy and drama perfectly, but not quite a satire. He visits childhood locations, and all that stuff. He eventually goes to his daughter's wedding. Well not a lot to talk about, but trust me it is not boring.

The acting was exceptional, well the whole cast except Jack and Bates were average, but they were not heavily used. Jack, well I cannot imagine anyone else fitting that well so perfectly. I must admit I expected a satire with him having a funny accent, but a last it was his normal Jack Torrance accent. That is not so bad once it gets started, but not what I expected.

Overall, we have a very good drama/comedy, which shows Jack in a very different role. It is nice to see him still making movies, the plot is clever, and the ending is very sad. I would recommend to all Jack lovers. The movie turns a boring plot into a fun movie.