"Schmidt Happens"

Larry, I know what you are saying about Nicholson being colorful, and his playing the role of a buttoned-down-lifer minor executive pushed around by his wife, doesn't fit. I had to make the adjustment to his role in the beginning of the film, especially with the real-life knowledge that his current girlfriend, Laura (?) Flynn Boyle, is 30 plus years younger than him.

The son-in-law was a real dope, but Nicholson realizes once in Colorado, in his soon to be new family's home, he has no control over the situation. Kathy Bates is a strong, but a loose wheel, her house a contrast in his own. I loved the dinner scene with the lazy susan and the drawing of the woman's vagina that was in the frame just to the left of Nicholson's head.

And, I believe the director embellished the son-in law, in addition to his selling waterbeds and coming up with phony money-making schemes, with an outward appearance that would further equip the viewer to assess his lack of worthiness: The wedding day mullett.

Essentially, Schmidt's role in the film, and especially in Co. was that of the minor, invisible second rate actuary he had worked at his whole life; his role was to blend in with the environment. He was meant to keep up appearences, attend the ridiculous pre-wedding dinners (stoned out of his mind, and no one noticed), and make the blessing at the wedding.

jjorge, the ending worked so well because it was so simple. Shmidt has returned from his hellish odyseey of self-discovery ( remember the scene with the candles on the RV)?

Though the changes in Shmidt were subtle, he said upon his return before opening the mail that he could either live another 20 years or he could die tomorrow, which was a change from what he had said earlier in the film. Before the trip he tells the audience that by his actuarial assessment, he woud have nine more years to live.

I believe Schmidt's realization and acceptance of lifes unpredictability was the set-up for the final scene. He is at once appreciated, all at the hands of a six-year old boy who uses no words, but a painting to convey that connection.

You know what? I said I wasn't going to go see this movie, but after reading all the subsequent posts, I have changed my mind. I'm going to go see "Schmidt Happens" in the very near future. c.i.

I find this all very interesting because I just read Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt, which dealt with some of these same issues, albeit in a much earlier and different period, and its interesting to compare the older book and its approach to conformity and men's working lives versus this recent film.

Some art history trivia for anyone who is going to see the film, there is a really interesting "spoof" on the David painting "The death of Marat" in the film. I've posted the link of the picture if you are unfamiliar with the painting.

http://www.artchive.com/artchive/D/david/marat.jpg.html

I seem to recall Nicholson had an "art" encounter when he played his character in Batman. He came a cross a Francis Bacon painting and took some time to admire it.

C.I. Don't ask the ticket seller for tickets to ' Schmidt Happens' or they'll probably laugh. The name of the movie is Ábout Schmidt', the former was just my smart-aleck name for this thread.

LarryBS
Hm-m-m....... ' Babbit' and 'Schmidt'.
An interesting comparison. Care to tell us more?

Gala
You noticed a lot that I didn't in the film. It reminds me of discussing films with my step-daughter (who was a film major).
She is always commenting on the director's techniques, camera-work etc. I always leave those conversations deciding to see the movie in question another time so I can see more of what I missed!

I don't think enough has been said about the Nicholson character struggling with the fact of his mortality, especially in the light of his growing awareness of his disatisfaction with the life he has led.

It makes me think of the late, great, psychoanalyst Erick Erickson.
That is, of his stages of development and, in particular, the final stage of life or stage eight:

"...Stage eight:

This last stage, referred to delicately as late adulthood or maturity, or less delicately as old age, begins sometime around retirement, after the kids have gone, say somewhere around 60...The task is to develop ego integrity with a minimal amount of despair... First comes a detachment from society, from a sense of usefulness, for most people in our culture. Some retire from jobs they've held for years; others find their duties as parents coming to a close; most find that their input is no longer requested or required....."
(from an online article by Dr. C. George Boeree, link below)
http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/erikson.html

jjorge, I like your name for the movie better than the one they chose. c.i.

C.I.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/19/movies/19BEGL.html

Here's a link to an article I came across in the Times. The Author of "About Schmidt" talking about the movie and the book.

Hazlitt

Thanks for that post. It was very interesting to hear from the author of the original novel. He (the author) seems to have taken the occasion to advertise himself and his other novels somewhat which is fair enough I suppose.

He was quite candid in saying he was so thrilled at the prospect of Nicholson playing Schmidt that he would have agreed to practically anything.

He was also generous in his praise of the director and the screen-writer which was nice.

The overall impression that I got was that the film is quite a different story from the novel and it leaves me with enhanced respect for the screen writer.

I saw it! On a rating of zero to 10, I would grade it a 7.5, because I did enjoy myself more than not. What impressed me the most about this film was Schmidt's subserviant life to his work, wife, and his daughter. As the woman said in the trailer, Schmidt is a very sad man, and it doesn't take an hour sharing a meal with him to realize this. The greatest benefit realized from this movie is the increased sponsorship of orphans through <<www.childreach.org>>. It increased donations from an average of three sponsorships per day to 80 per day after the movie was released on January 3. I just happened to buy USA Today in front of the theater, because I arrived early, and a front page article in the Life section had the item on Abdallah, known as Ndugu in the movie, the six year old boy in Tanzania. They used a real child in Tanzania to bring realism to the film. *** I had the opportunity to visit Tanzania in April 2001, to visit their game parks. I know two physicians in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, and we communicate regularly by email. The one experience I wanted to share with you in Tanzania is when we visited the school in Karatu, over 550 chiildren sang to our small group of tourists. After the children sang for us, none of us had a dry eye. The last scene of the movie brought back those memories. c.i.

C.I.

So, you saw it!
Do you think our discussion here on A2K enhanced your enjoyment of it or caused you to see it differently than if you had just seen it 'cold'?

After I saw the movie I too decided to join Childreach (which coincidentally is headquartered here in Warwick RI ) but I hadn't gotten around to doing it yet. I'm glad you mentioned it and posted their web address because that's my next stop after this post.

P.S.
Very interesting about Tanzania C.I.

The posts in this forum just made me curious why there were so many different interpretations to Schmidt, and why some people wasn't moved by this film. I'm not that famaliar with working white collar workers in the mid-west, although I did work at the headquarters for Florsheim Shoe Company in Chicago for about four years. I'm not sure Schmidt represents the 'typical' manager of any company, except many make the same mistake of devoting too much of their lives to work and not to family. That part of the story was very clear. The way I interpreted the first scene at the company's retirement dinner; I think he was embarrased to have so much attention directed at him. He was used to working alone as an actuary. His return to his office to ask his replacement if he could be of any help just shows how lost he was without his job, because he was never that involved with his wife or daughter at home. He was angry when he found those love letters in the closet, but later forgave his wife and friend, because he understood that he was partly to blame. Without the relationship of his wife and daughter, he was a very sad man. The lesson is very clear; don't neglect your family over your job, or the only "love" shown will be from an orphan half way around the world. c.i.

C.I.
Remember, someone may be reading this thread (as you did) before seeing the film and may not want you to disclose too many details.

P.S.
I signed up at www.Childreach.org
I selected a little girl in Haitii because I have two daughters who have had many advantages that she has not.

Now, like Schmidt I can tell her my troubles. (just kidding)

ooooops! ;( c.i.

Just saw the movie.

Incredible! I do not know of another living actor who could have pulled off this role. (Jack Lemon might have)

There are no car chases, no surround sound score, no ten second hyper-scenes, no epic battles. Just ordinary life, ordinary conversation, ordinary people dealing with stuff, and therein lies its brilliance.

The scenes move slowly, allowing you time to feel as if you're there. Nicholson gets out of his car to walks into the tire store, and we walk every step with him, every boring ordinary step. He stands to make a speech at his daughters wedding, and we hear it all, from a distance, as if we were sitting at one of the tables, no zooming in and out, and we not only hear every word, but we hear every long drawn-out pause as well. The time in the scenes is real time, and, perhaps more importantly, the empty space is real too. Nicholson stops in the middle of nowhere, gets out of his RV, and does nothing, he just stands there in the middle of nowhere doing nothing. Palpable empty space. Which is exactly what (I think) the film intends to convey. All that time, and all that empty space, external and internal.

Sometimes, in a movie, the less said, the better. Instead of hearing endless analytical dialogue about the angst and pain of life, we are allowed to feel it, to live it through Schmidt. Nicholson is the master of understatement (on the screen).

I LOVED this movie !

angie, If you were to rate this movie between 0 to 10, what would you give it? c.i.

The movie was excellent, but probably not for everyone. Since a "10" might suggest "perfection" (whatever that is), and therefore pretty much unattainable, and since "9" would be "excellent for a broad audience"i'd'd probably give it an 8.

Rating a movie is so subjective. I enjoyed Lord of the Rings II. The special effects were grand, and the saga was truly epic, but honestly, it never "reached" me, it never made me feel anything, so, low marks for content, high marks for its cinematic quality, probably a "6" over all average rating. BTW, I have no doubt most of the viewing audience would disagree with me.

Another excellent movie (if I may digress a bit) is "Far From Heaven" with Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore. Takes place in the fifties, set in a picture perfect suburban town, with a perfect family, living in perfect home, where they hold perfect social gatherings. Underneath all this perfection is, of course, reality, complete with every form of prejudice and bigotry imaginable, from gender discrimination to racism to homophobia. These evils permeate every perfect inch of their lives, seething just under the perfect surface. If anyone has ever wondered why the sixties happened, why we needed to blow everything up, why the pendulum had to swing so far in the direction of freedom and activism, this movie answers all those questions .... perfectly.

angie, Thank you for the extras on "Lord of the Rings II" and "Far From Heaven." Your rating for "About Schmidt" pretty much reflects my opinion, but as you say, it's very subjective for each of us. Now that you whet my appetite for "Far From Heaven," I'm going to go see it soon. c.i.

Welcome, Angie! Great input!