About Schmidt | 
| Director: Alexander Payne
Actors: Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, Kathy Bates, June Squibb
Studio: New Line Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $9.98
Buy Used: $0.01
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Rating:  356 reviews
Sales Rank: 8886
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dts Surround Sound, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Subtitled)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 125 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: DN6319D
ISBN: 0780642716
UPC: 794043631924
EAN: 9780780642713
ASIN: B00005JLSK
Theatrical Release Date: December 20, 2002
Release Date: June 3, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
While confirming Jack Nicholson's status as an American national treasure, About Schmidt is sure to provoke polarized reactions. Stoked by the success of Election, director Alexander Payne and cowriter Jim Taylor have altered Louis Begley's novel to suit their comedic agenda, turning Nicholson's titular character into a 66-year-old, newly retired Omaha insurance actuary, weary from decades of drudgery and passionless marriage. When his wife suddenly dies, he attempts to reclaim his life in a king-sized Winnebago, desperate to convince his daughter (Hope Davis) not to marry the Denver dimwit (Dermot Mulroney) whose mother (Kathy Bates) has her own baggage of peculiar peccadilloes. Nicholson perfectly (and often hilariously) nails the seething anger beneath his character's facade of resignation, but Payne and Taylor convey cold-hearted contempt for these Midwestern malcontents. Think of this as Ikiru with bleaker humanity, until Schmidt finds meaning--and some small reward--in a quiet gesture of goodwill. Love it or hate it, About Schmidt is a movie you won't soon forget. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
Warren schmidt is forced to deal with an ambiguousfuture as he enters retirement. Soon after his wife passes away he must come to terms with his daughters marriage to a man he doesnt care for & the failure that his life has become. Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 11/14/2006 Starring: Jack Nicholson Hope Davis Run time: 124 minutes Rating: R Director: Alexander Payne
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| Customer Reviews: Read 351 more reviews...
 AWFUL MOVIE! June 4, 2009
Soul Bird
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Yuch! What a terrible movie! This has got to be Jack Nicholson's worst flick ever! It's about a 66 year old man who recently lost his wife and tries to convince his daughter not to marry a dim-wit. But along the way he meets the dummy's heavyset weird mom played by Kathy Bates and all hell breaks loose: She tries to seduce Jack Nicolson when she's grossly naked in a hot tub. No one would want to see a disgusting fat old Kathy Bates nude! Don't waste your time on this crap.
 great movie May 28, 2009
B. A. Scollay (West Windsor, NJ United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I used this film as an assignment for my gerentology class. It describes many of the situations that one goes through in the aging process. What better way to teach life lessons than with grace and humor.
Brilliant film April 19, 2009
E. Karasik (Washington, DC United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This film actually didn't leave much of an impression on me the first time I saw it, but I recently re-watched it and decided it was quite brilliant. It is a dark, existential meditation on the mostly pointless life of a retired insurance executive, Jack Nicholson, whose only honest communications are with an orphaned six year-old boy he is sponsoring through an international aid agency. I was struck by the care that went into every scene and the understated humor which, while often cruel, really struck a chord. The characters are wonderfully quirky and well conceived (Kathy Bates is a total riot) and some brilliant makeup artist made Dermot Mulroney so unattractive as to be unrecognizable. The camera often lingers mercilessly on Nicholson's face, which is made (or allowed) to look as puffy and creased as possible, and with this palate of aging flesh he is a master painter of facial expressions. Nicholson's road trip across Nebraska also incorporates brilliant bits of Americana. The deleted scenes are interesting, and accompanied by very revealing director's commentary. Make sure to watch the one in which Jack Nicholson orders breakfast and the server tells him "no substitutions," echoing the iconic scene from Five Easy Pieces. And while the film is quite bleak, it is not without redemptive qualities.
About Schmidt February 3, 2009
Blanche S. Gehrlein (Erie, PA USA)
We recently rented this film and we watched it about 4 times. We laughed so much when we watched it. Even though it starts out on a little sad note, it revolves into one of Jack Nicholson's funniest films. (In my opinion) We are big fans of him anyway. It does seem to be a little different than some of his films, but some events I identified with. I was trying to find the film to buy and searched the internet and found it on your site. We have watched it again and still laughed our heads off. I hope everyone will enjoy it as much as we have.
 ABOUT SCHMIDT - The last GREAT Nicholson performance January 31, 2009
A. Shane (Chicago, IL USA)
It takes about 1 second for Jack Nicholson to elicit the first laugh in Alexander Panyne's About Schmidt, and to remind us why he's one of film's all-time greats. Nicholson's ability to emote enormous amounts of information without saying a word is one of the central tools Payne uses to tell his story; and it's one hell of a powerful tool. Nicholson plays Warren Schmidt, an Omaha actuary who, upon retirement finds himself in an existential crisis. Essentially, the film is about the meaning of one man's life; it's a tough subject matter and one that Payne and Nicholson handle confidently and effectively.
At the age of 65, Warren Schmidt finds himself with nothing to do but write hilariously overly detailed letters to his African foster kid, Ndugu. When his overbearing wife of 42 years dies suddenly, Schmidt decides to take a cross-country trip on the way to his daughter's wedding. Warren doesn't really have a good idea of what he's looking for on his journey and the trip itself is less than exciting (like Schmidt himself). But watching Nicholson inhabit this drab little man is a wonder. When he does eventually arrive in Denver and meets his future in-laws, the film becomes relentlessly hilarious. Kathy Bates is brilliant as the boozy "free-spirited" mom of Dermot Mulroney (giving a great little performance himself), Schmidt's dimwitted future son-in-law. And Howard Hesseman - due for a comeback - is very funny as an overly laid back aging hippy. But it's always Nicholson's reactions to these characters that really brings out the comedy here... and the pathos as well.
About Schmidt is not a perfect film. The pacing is slower than it should have been and the first two acts drag on a bit too long. Frankly, without Nicholson's high-wattage brilliance, none of this would have been nearly as effective as it is. But with all the pieces where they are, About Schmidt succeeds more often than it fails and, in the end, presents one man's quest for meaning as both funny and surprisingly moving.
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