Jack Nicholson in "About Schmidt" -- What Makes This Movie Great? (Episode 186)

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@paints_his_shirt_red 11 ай бұрын

I love this movie as well. So much to say but the ending just kills me every time. It seems to be a poignant moment of self realization. This simple letter of honest appreciation from a real boy who he has really helped and who probably has more love for this man (who he will never meet) than anyone ever has. And it underscores the absurdity of Schmidt’s own letters to Ndugu, basically using a Tanzanian orphan as a sounding board this whole time. Thanks for bringing up this largely forgotten gem.

@merlebuck 5 ай бұрын

One of the best endings ever. Hit me hard. I tear up just thinking about it.

@Victor-s6i8l Ай бұрын

Shit I never forgot it.

@williamsweeney7954 11 ай бұрын

Great unnoticed masterpiece.

@macebluemoon369 11 ай бұрын

This movie was outstanding and deserved more than two Oscar nominations. Kathy Bates should have won one for her performance in this film. I haven't seen this film since it was in the theatres over twenty years ago. This film needs to be rewatched. It has stuck with me over the years.

@mark4163 11 ай бұрын

About Scmidt is a masterpiece! I have loved this movie ever since I first saw it in the theater. I have recommended this film to many people who, after they watch it, say it was utterly depressing and boring. They just don't get it. About Schmidt is an hilarious and thought provoking film. It made me into huge Alexander Payne fan. I love so many of his movies, but for me, nothing is as good as About Schmidt.

@jimmycrackkorn1596 6 ай бұрын

Me too, it's like I'm the only one who gets this movie. I had my 21 year old daughter watch this with me and she didn't think much of it either. But I love this movie, the ending always gets me!

@iwanttocomplain Ай бұрын

I chose this to watch with my mum and auntie. They didn't look bored, but super pissed off.

@carlj12 5 ай бұрын

The ending of this always gets me. I remember seeing it in the cinema with my girlfriend at the time, worried about her seeing me crying (we had only been together a couple of months) and then turning to see her balling

@kendallevans4079 5 ай бұрын

When he's on top of the RV speaking to the heavens, and his wife and says..." Was I really all you hoped for? Or were you just to kind to tell the truth..." hit me. I can see myself saying that in spirit to my wife....

@GolfPokerClub 2 ай бұрын

Great review with focus on Jack’s character. Think it’s worth another supplemental video analysis of his priority to stop his daughter’s wedding. The subplot and big part of the second act with the son-in-law’s family scenes and his final acceptance of them in his wedding reception speech which showcases a master performance. I posted a video on my channel of the in-law dinner scene and the comments are really spot on and funny. People love this movie and I watch it about once a year.

@magnusm.4437 11 ай бұрын

Thank you! Watched some years ago and was apathetic, but after reading your letterboxd review I thought I’d give it another shot. I went through Payne’s work in an anticipation for The Holdovers and was delighted with About Schmidt this time around. Such a sweet movie that accurately depicts the malaise that many guys in the Midwest find themselves in. Reminds me of a few relatives, sadly. That poignant ending is special and antidote to melancholy. Not to fail to mention that the movie is hilarious albeit bleak more often.

@LearningaboutMovies 11 ай бұрын

Thanks Magnus

@cruddddddddddddddd 11 ай бұрын

I've always loved this film. Payne likes these clueless main characters. Even in Sideways, when the main character seems to understand why things are the way they are, he still can't do anything to change it, despite trying very hard. I think part of the tragedy of Schmidt is that he doesn't realize what he DOES have. The fact is, no one really knows if what they're doing is the right thing. We make goals, and we hope it works out for the best in the long run - we hope we don't end up alone, unhappy, having lived a life devoid of meaning, right? That's what we don't want: to be a Schmidt. What does Schmidt actually accomplish in life? Well, he retired from a job where he was successful. He didn't become company president or anything, but he was successful there. He had a successful marriage. He wasn't thrilled with it, and his wife bored him, but looking at it from the outside, it was a successful marriage - they did not part until death. He had a daughter. Maybe he's disappointed in her decision to marry someone Schmidt considers 'less than', but at least she seems happy. And, whether or not he's being scammed or not, he's at least attempting to help someone other than himself w/ Ndugu, and I think that's an important thing. More than anything, Schmidt needs to feel like he's made a difference in life - like his life has meaning. After his retirement, he can't seem to affect change in his job, his marriage, or even his daughter's marriage. It's like he doesn't matter. That's really what he's looking for - confirmation that his life has meant something. One character you can juxtapose with Schmidt is Kathy Bates' character. This is a woman who has lived her life completely different than him - the polar opposite. Schmidt is a very quiet, conservative man, full of 'quiet desperation'. With Bates' character, she is a very liberal woman, probably lived a very bohemian, hippy-type lifestyle - partied a lot, did a lot of drugs, had a lot of sexual partners. And yet, her desperation for meaning and purpose is still there, only she's not quiet about it the way Schmidt is. I just wonder if Payne is saying there's really no escape - either we live our lives with quiet or no so quiet desperation, but the only thing we can do is try to make a difference in someone else's life, even if that person is someone we don't really know.

@LearningaboutMovies 11 ай бұрын

Thank you

@kendallevans4079 5 ай бұрын

Excellent! We said and thoughtful!

@krisscanlon4051 3 ай бұрын

Perfect! Thank you! Purpose and meaning.

@twatts1523 Ай бұрын

When you listed his only cherished treasures, you forgot his little ceramic figurines. When they fell off the top of his RV, I lost it, such a great scene.

@jimagent1826 Ай бұрын

When I retired, I sent an email out to my co-workers with that picture of Warren staring at the clock, waiting for it to change to 5 pm.

@twatts1523 Ай бұрын

I love this film! I could watch it over and over!

@singstreetcar5881 11 ай бұрын

I love Alexander payne, I was so surprised when I found out he made election starring recee winterspoon, I l9ve this film so much

@jessebbedwell 11 ай бұрын

Election, About Schmidt, Sideways, The Descendants -- the scripts written by Payne are the greatest satires on what the modern American dream leaves out.

@clumsydad7158 11 ай бұрын

Nebraska, Downsizing ... looking forward to The Holdovers, wish I could rent it already! Sideways in my top 10 movies of all-time - the friendship and pathos there always gets to me

@C_Jj_G 11 ай бұрын

@@clumsydad7158holdovers is on peacock

@birdienumnum2012 4 ай бұрын

Lived this film.

@prilljazzatlanta5070 11 ай бұрын

Good call on this one. I have great affection for 2002 as a year in film

@nickc.44 11 ай бұрын

Nice review. Will rewatch with a more curious philosophical eye

@C_Jj_G 11 ай бұрын

Payne is a favorite of mine. This is one of the best. I can only think of one of his films i didnt like that much and that would be the first. Thank you and you have a great day.

@DaddyDaughterMovieNight 11 ай бұрын

I'll have to revisit this one. Saw it when it came out, and mainly remember the very end where he's staring at a picture and sort of breaking down...was it a picture of him? Or what he was lacking? I remember the film cutting right through me before fading to black.

@krisscanlon4051 3 ай бұрын

I love Payne's movies because they are so sad yet funny,the unreal in the real. I was young when this movie came out and connected to it immediately. I took a sharp turn and fell into more issues which included addiction now I'm older close to Schmidts age. His life is over and just staring into the abyss. He found something to connect with in life as he is near the end. Payne's Shaggy Dog characters are amazing.

@saladbreath607 5 ай бұрын

Woodmen of the World is a doppelganger of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway insurance group based out of Omaha.

@saladbreath607 5 ай бұрын

BTW: This is not filmed in or about the Midwest (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, etc) This is the Plains: Nebraska, Kansas, Eastern Colorado. Difference.

@jimmycrackkorn1596 6 ай бұрын

Alexander Payne's most recent film was "the holdovers." Which i also, very much, enjoyed. But About Schmidt is still my favorite.

@theowlreviewerofficial 11 ай бұрын

I have the movie on DVD so hopefully I can check this out after I get home from vacation. This is one of those gems that I've heard great things about but doesn't have the same level of coverage as some of the other films the actor has starred in/films director has made.

@the_abbasid 11 ай бұрын

This is a beautiful film with some very dark shots that convey the emptiness you feel when driving on the highway alone. It is a comedy, but for me it is a tragedy of how the human race has constructed this facade of so-called progressive civilization as Spengler says. If humanity improves every year historically, as the progressives say, we shouldn’t see people like Schmidt, which really represents the middle class in America, they remain as allegories of something deeper, something about the decline of civilization and the fall of the west. In ancient and medieval times, we certainly didn’t feel this emptiness. We did not feel the worthlessness of completing these mundane that contribute to the banality of life. We had a transcendent outlook on being. We had a community to believe in. In modern times, as we drive on the highway daily, we should meditate on how it came to existence. We should meditate on what philosophical notions contributed to this degeneracy of society that doesn’t inspire us to look beyond or inwards. I always meditate on Schmidt sitting in his office staring at the clock or the abyss living 68 years of nothing.

@LearningaboutMovies 11 ай бұрын

Great comment, thank you