Hey folks, Harry here with SPYder's look at ABOUT SCHMIDT -- I MUST SEE THIS FILM NOW!!!!! NOW!!!!
Hey there, Head Geek,
SPYder, here. Looks like I got scooped by Grozilla on “About Schmidt.” The Grozilla must have ten legs compared to my humble eight, because by the time I got back to my hotel, their review was already up on AICN. Since you already had Grozilla’s take on “About Schmidt,” I decided to spin my way into a couple parties last night and ship this off to you in the morning. If you’re interested, here’s another submission for the pile.
“About Schmidt” is Jack Nicholson’s latest film, written and directed by Alexander Payne, and was screened in competition here at Cannes at 1:30pm, local time (which means Grozilla must have been at the press screening to have scooped me). There was probably a black tie premiere last night, but I’ve since learned to avoid the Palais around premiere time since the crowds and French police out front make the area rather messy to pass through. The film was very well received by the masses in the Lumiere, with sincere applause when Nicholson’s name appeared in the end credits. I enjoyed it, myself, and would put it into the same category as “As Good As It Gets” in that both are character studies of difficult men who have to look seriously at how they live their lives and examine who they want to become.
Nicholson plays Warren Schmidt, a 66 year old mid-level executive in an insurance company who we meet on his last day on the job and his subsequent retirement dinner. Though well respected by his peers, we get the sense that Warren may not be the warmest person around, and may not be very happy with his life or the prospect of retirement.
It would be very easy to get into some spoilers about what else happens in the first 15 minutes of “About Schmidt,” but I think readers might have a better time if I don’t get too much into those here. What I can say is that while dealing with his daughter’s imminent wedding to a man he doesn’t feel is worthy of her, Warren is forced to begin a journey of self-exploration and examine the life he has lead and determine how he wants to live the rest of his life. We learn something of his internal processes through a series of letters he writes to a 6 year old Tanzanian boy he sponsors for 78 cents a day.
I thought “About Schmidt” was very well written, and an entertaining exploration of one man’s life and the relationships formed and impacted by the fashion in which he lived it. There were some moments you kind of see coming, especially if you’re a student of story structure. That’s alright, because the performances are all very strong and it’s fun to watch the story play out.
Nicholson, as you might expect, is great. Though Schmidt doesn’t have the business of an obsessive-compulsive that Melvin Udall did in “As Good As It Gets” Nicholson finds plenty to work with in what most would expect to be a fairly average mid-Western man. Personally, I think it’s more of a challenge to make an average person interesting and entertaining to watch; don’t get me wrong, he has excellent performances in both roles. The rest of the cast was all very good as well, with Kathy Bates in a role that most will not soon forget (and for reasons I’m not going to spoil for you). Hope Davis plays Jeannie, Warren’s daughter, with Dermot Mulroney as Randall, her fiancée.
“About Schmidt” also does a fantastic job of capturing the look, dress, and feel of the mid-west and its inhabitants. There’s a great bit that nails the entire RV set, featuring an actor who Buffy fans will remember as the former Mayor of Sunnydale (and whose name I cannot for the life of me remember, sorry). The issue I left the Lumiere wondering was whether or not the people in what Hollywood refers to as the “fly over” states will really get that they are being parodied to a certain extent. Hopefully, they’ll have a sense of humor about it because I’d hate for them to dismiss “About Schmidt” and miss out on the revelations that Schmidt has about his life.
New Line made “About Schmidt,” so I’m expecting they’ll be the ones who release it in North America. Thought it is Nicholson, I would expect an art-house release so that they could have fewer engagements, but with full houses.
-- SPYder, out.
P.S. Addendum to my earlier note about those Marvel properties with Crystal Sky: I don’t know if I specified, but Crystal Sky is just handling international sales. Either Wednesday or Thursday Variety probably reported something about Sony being in discussions to get the “Ghost Rider” rights from Dimension. The funny part is that there’s been this “Ghost Rider” banner on the Carlton the whole market that has Columbia’s name on it. I’ll see if I can get you a picture of it (may be a bit of a delay, I still don’t have a digital camera).
