About Schmidt

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🎙️ EPISODE 598: 11.15.22 Moving from the black comedy genre into dramedy territory, Alexander Payne mostly doesn't lose a beat. His razor wit and outstanding attention to detail is still on full display, but there's a real, pervasive sadness here that's missing in the first two movies (Citizen Ruth and Election). Like with those borderline classics, however, there's still a lot of subtle and sometimes not so subtle commentary about America. The plight of Warren Schmidt and the excellent framing device of his sponsoring of and letter-writing to a never-seen African child named Ndugu can be overtly be viewed as a dissection of white privlidge. It's so obvious it's hardly worth mentioning. But the far more interesting aspect here are the titular Schmidt's interactions with his future in-laws. Payne has a lot to say about class and social standing without ever spelling it out.

There's just enough laughs, mostly in the form of Schmidt's daughter's future husband (a mullet-donning Dermot Mulroney) and mother-in-law (a fantastic Kathy Bates as an aging hippy), both playing off the deadpan widower Schmidt (Jack Nicholson in one of his various late-career curmudgeon roles). But the comedy is lacking compared to the much darker and more biting stuff in the earlier films. So About Schmidt leans into the poignancy and really touching character arc of this man. We feel his struggle, presented with the double whammy of retirement (complacency) and the death of his wife (loneliness). At first we can't empathize and why should we? He's had the easiest life.

In another tremendous postscript helmed by Payne and writing partner Jim Taylor, Schmidt leaves his daughter's wedding in Denver and drives back to Omaha. He makes one stop, at the Nebraska border. From the website roadsideamerica.com on this completely unnecessary attraction called "The Archway":

Like brave 19th century pioneers who settled this wild land, the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument -- its name officially shortened to just The Archway in 2013 -- has endured horrible adversity and celebrated day-by-day victories. A victory is when the parking lot fills and the gift shop is abuzz with souvenir seekers.

Under a giant log arch, the two story lobby escalator -- the longest in Nebraska -- spares modern pioneers a stair climb, and leads up into the Archway's multi-media experience. Statues of Lewis and Clark era guides stand along both sides, pointing the way up. The impressive entrance leads through a moving video display of the prairie.

Schmidt marvels at this privately owned ode to pioneers. Having successfully maneuvered through his own struggles by finally finding the means to feel gratitude, he feels a strained kinship with these ancestors. It's as funny and cutting as anything else in the film. But when he returns home, he finds a letter from the orphanage of the boy he's sponsoring for $22 a month. Ndugu is a real person on the other side of the world. Having just learned how to feel gracious for the people in his life, he now experiences the emotion from the other side. And he can't handle it. He looks at the enclosed drawing and weeps. Another perfect ending.

CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 597 - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 599 ⫸

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About Schmidt is a 2002 American comedy-drama film co-written and directed by Alexander Payne and starring Jack Nicholson in the title role. The film also stars Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, and Kathy Bates. It is loosely based on the 1996 novel of the same title by Louis Begley. About Schmidt was theatrically by New Line Cinema and was both a commercial and critical success, earning $105.8 million on a $30 million budget. It was released on May 22, 2002.