About Schmidt

Schmidt Happens.

In director Alexander Payne's About Schmidt, Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson in one of his richest performances) has arrived at several of life's crossroads all at the same time as he is forced to deal with an ambiguous future as he enters retirement. Soon after, his wife of 42 years passes away and he must come to terms with his only daughters (Hope Davis) marriage to a man he does not care for (Dermot Mulroney). With no job, no wife and no family, Warren is desperate to find something meaningful in his thoroughly unimpressive life. He sets out on a journey of self-discovery, exploring his roots across Nebraska and facing up to the failure that his life has become.

Critic Reviews:

• " A character study that has the emotional richness of the great Italian and Eastern European films of the 1960s, in which humor and pathos rode up and down on the seesaw together. " – John Powers

• " [It] toys with convention, leading us down that happy ending path and then hopping off of it again. It's refreshing. " – Kevin Carr

• " Sharply observed, Alexander Payne's poignant comedy is a character study of an ordinary American, who embarks on a journey of self-discovery and in the process becomes humanized and extraordinary. " – Emanuel Levy