About Schmidt DVD Review
Posted by Julian Cantella on 06.06.2003
As overrated as Election?
About Schmidt DVD
Release Date: June 3, 2003
Rated R
124 minutes
Alexander Payne’s first major movie, the critically acclaimed Election, gets my vote as one of the most overrated films of all time. Aside from a sly performance by soon-to-be-a-superstar Reese Witherspoon, the movie was a pile of cruel cynical crap masquerading as a comedy. Watching it, one gets the impression that every single person on the planet is an unadulterated pervert, and that people are only nice to each other because they have to be. Now, I’m not naïve enough to believe the real world is one big Disneyland, but Payne’s work is unrelentingly nasty and malicious. So when I heard that Payne’s next film, About Schmidt, had been nominated for an Academy Award, I got scared. Was my fear justified? Read on.
The Film
Jack Nicholson, in one of the most reserved performances of his career, plays Warren Schmidt, a retiring 66-year old insurance agent who has lived a boring, pointless life. Aside from his beloved daughter Jeannie (Hope Davis), Schmidt has accomplished nothing of note, and has nothing to look forward to in the years to come. In one early scene, Schmidt goes out to dinner with his plain and subservient wife Helen (June Squibb); the two simply eat and stare at each other, saying not a word for the duration of the meal. The monotony of Schmidt’s life goes unbroken for a long time, until he comes home one afternoon to see his wife face down on the floor, dead from a blood clot.
Freed from what he perceived as an annoyance, Schmidt feels he can now live by his own rules: no longer must he pee sitting down, as his wife required him to do, or even shower regularly that matter. Despite his newfound freedom, however, Schmidt still has nothing of note to do. In a state of pure despair, he decides to take the brand new RV his wife had bought and go on a road trip to Denver, Colorado, where his daughter will soon be married.
About Schmidt is a largely unfocused movie with numerous tangents. If the plot summary above seemed to contain nothing particularly interesting, that’s because, well, the movie contains nothing particularly interesting. Payne, who in addition to directing co-wrote the screenplay with Jim Taylor, seems to count on several plot devices and stunts to move the picture along. Foremost among these is a series of letters Schmidt writes to Ndugu Umbo, a poor African boy whom he has decided to send money to through a program known as Childreach. In his letters, Schmidt finds his only outlet for speaking honestly, openly, and often angrily about the state of his life. These letters are supposed to make the audience sympathetic to Schmidt’s frustrating existence, but largely come across as overly sentimental and unrealistic, especially in a world as cynical as the one established by the screenplay.
Yes, Director Payne does keep the trend of cynicism alive with his latest feature. Much like Election , this film contains unhappy, abusive, and cruel characters, none of whom lead positive or kind lives. The only two characters who seem genuinely nice, a family Schmidt meets for on e scene in a trailer park, are portrayed as hopeless losers who are easily abused by “real” people. While Schmidt is not quite as malicious as Payne’s previous effort, it does more than make up for it by being horribly depressing. This is a film that will leave the viewer truly unhappy after watching it.
To avoid being as much of a downer as this film, I will admit that this movie is not a total waste. The very slow pace, while causing a bit of a drag in the third act, sets the appropriate tone and is especially refreshing after watching films like X-Men 2 and Gladiator, where the ultra-fast editing renders some of the action inscrutable. In addition, the acting is terrific, from the always-great Nicholson to the enjoyable performances of Dermot Mulroney and Kathy Bates, who play Jeannie’s fiancé and mother-in-law, respectively. The segments where Schmidt meets the family his daughter will be marrying into are among the few actually funny moments of the film.
Video Quality
For some reason, the visuals on this release look a little hazy, without the crisp level of definition normally present on this format. The lack of clarity is not bad enough to be distracting, but will definitely be noticed by most observant viewers.
Audio Quality
This is a predominantly quiet film, but the Dolby 5.1 Surround, DTS Digital, and Stereo Surround options do come in handy when the soundtrack livens up. The occasional bursts of music come through loud and clear, and provide a much-appreciated change of pace.
Special Features
There are 9 Deleted Scenes, each of which is preceded by an interesting written introduction by Director Alexander Payne. These several paragraphs of background information are in fact more exciting than the scenes themselves, which total about a half hour and include virtually nothing worth watching. One exception would be the homage to Five Easy Pieces, which was cut for time but should have been left in.
The Woodmen Tower Sequences include five different versions of the opening credits, each with different images of Omaha directed and edited by different teams. Payne states that he gave his crew this assignment to familiarize them with the Avid editing suite, and though I’m sure it served its purpose on that front, the inclusion of these scenes on the DVD is more interesting in theory than in practice. If you’re going to watch any of these, view the fourth, which is the only one to differ notably from the one used in the film.
There is also a collection of trailers and credits for the DVD.
Film: 5.0
Video: 5.0
Audio: 8.5
Special Features: 4.0
The 411: Much like Election, Payne’s second critically acclaimed work is highly overrated, with an outstanding cast being overshadowed by a depressing and cruel script. Thankfully, this film won no Academy Awards (yes, Nicholson’s performance was good, but not even as good as Nicholas Cage’s in Adaptation, for which Cage was not even nominated), as it just didn’t deserve any. Next time Payne releases a movie, be it critically acclaimed or not, I’m just not going to watch it. I’ll be happier that way.
