“About Schmidt” opens today at the Lincoln Square and the Union Square. The 119-minute film is rated R for profanity and brief nudity. Here are excerpts from Lou Lumenick’s three-star review, which appeared when the movie opened the New York Film Festival in September.
COUNT on Jack Nicholson receiving a 12th Oscar nomination for his brilliant performance in “About Schmidt.”
He’s so absolutely riveting that you can forgive the bumps in this road movie/character study from director Alexander Payne and his co-screenwriter, Jim Taylor, who delivered the scathingly hilarious “Election.”
“About Schmidt” opens with a retirement party for Nicholson’s character – Warren Schmidt, a gray, stocky, mild-mannered little man who has spent decades toiling for an Omaha insurance company.
Schmidt isn’t exactly looking forward to spending the rest of his days in the 35-foot Winnebago his wife, Helen (little-known stage actress June Squibb, who is terrific), has nagged him into buying.
But as much as Schmidt complains about her in the on-screen narration, he becomes unmoored when Helen suddenly dies.
He pleads with his daughter, Jeannie (Hope Davis), to stay with him a while, but she refuses and returns home to Denver with her fiancé, Randall (Dermot Mulroney), a dimwitted waterbed salesman.
Things are so rocky between father and daughter that when Schmidt informs Jeannie he wants to visit, she demands he hold off until just before her impending wedding.
So he begins wandering, visiting his childhood home (which has been turned into a tire store) and striking up a friendship with a trailer-park couple that ends abruptly when he makes a clumsy pass at the wife.
When our hero is finally permitted to show up in Denver, he’s appalled to meet Randall’s redneck ex-hippie parents, played by Kathy Bates and Howard Hesseman, and makes a halfhearted effort to change Jeannie’s mind.
Bates, giving her most energetic performance in years, gooses the rather poky narrative, especially when she dives nude into a hot tub with Schmidt.
The film’s climax at Jeannie’s wedding reception – while true to Schmidt’s character – is far less satisfying than it would have been if Nicholson were finally permitted to cut loose in his trademark style.
But “About Schmidt” is nevertheless a must-see for Nicholson’s mesmerizing performance, which would probably hold interest even if the sound were turned off.