| The
Review: |
Warren Schmidt isn't anyone special,
despite what his former coworkers might try to instill in
him at his retirement party from Woodsmen of the World Insurance
Co. At the age of 66, he has now chosen to leave the work
force, ready to embrace the world of easy living in Omaha,
Nebraska through pension funds and social security that he
has spent his entire life working for. ***
Suddenly, he's in a world he cannot
remember. His wife, Helen, seems more like a stranger than
the woman he's spent 42 years of married life with; her attempts
to liven up what she calls the "next chapter" in their lives
have little effect on Warren, who seems to wallow in a post-retirement
haze where nothing has any meaning. He is slowly beginning
to learn that through years and years of business, marraige,
and fatherhood, he has gained nothing from which to benefit
after all of that has passed him by. ***
"About Schmidt," with its subtle
examinations of life in the suffocating trenches of mid-to-upper-class
suburbia, is a life lesson dressed in some of the year's most
genuinely affecting comedy, touching moments that resonate
within the soul long after the film has ended, and a stand-out
performance from the ever-forceful Jack Nicholson, who relinquishes
those talents with which he shaped his usual onscreen persona,
and becomes a man who is lost in a world which now seems to
hold no meaning for him. The key to comprehending the movie
is through a complete understanding of Schmidt, and Nicholson,
along with co-writer/director Alexander Payne and co-writer
Jim Taylor, give us just that and then some. ***
There is a conflict within the
movie that comes after a surprising plot twist which I will
not reveal here (I'm only shocked the previews kept it a secret),
involving the engagement of Warren's daughter, Jeannie (Hope
Davis), to Randall Hertzel (Dermot Mulroney), a hillbilly
waterbed salesman from Denver in whom Warren sees nothing
but trouble. His sudden willingness to become involved in
Jeannie's life stems from his desperation to make a difference
in her decisions, to try and lean upon her some type of knowledge,
even if it's as risky as telling her she's making the biggest
mistake of her life. ***
This leads to his venturing to Denver
just days before the wedding, where he meets the highly dysfunctional
Hertzel clan, headed (or lorded over, whichever you like)
by Roberta (Kathy Bates). The purpose of this section of the
film is basically comic relief on the part of two veteran
actors who know their characters and become them; after all,
given the fact that the wedding "goes off without a hitch,"
Warren's efforts in terms of changing his daughter's mind
are fruitless. This portion of the material is all about Nicholson
and Bates, especially Bates, who is so candid in her delivery
of dialogue concerning Roberta's "lust" for life (literally)
that she brings down the house. Nicholson is at his most charming
here, as Warren is cast into a setting he cannot relate to,
and does not want to, but does so according to his daughter's
wishes. Go ahead and try to think of a scene in any movie
from 2002 funnier than that of Warren hyped up on Percodan.
***
All of this is guided by a narration-like
presence of his letters to Ndugu, an African child he has
recently sponsored for $22 a month. While these letters do
retain much of the humor of Warren's views on his own life,
they are also very sorrowful in their realization that his
life has been nothing more than routines and duties. They
bring us into the mind of the character in such a way that
we welcome the feeling of knowing his personal thoughts, which
bring us joy and sadness simultaneously. ***
When the movie was over, a discussion
with a friend led to the question of why there was very little
of the relationship between Warren and Jeannie, or any of
the other characters, for that matter. I think that Payne
and Taylor have done right not to dive into the past between
father and daughter, and by giving us mere surface images
of those that surround Warren. The fragile first-person point-of-view
requires that we see things the same way as the main character;
tampering with things like interpersonal relationships and
side-stories would altogether provide for too many awkward
moments where we don't know who to sympathize with. In scenes
involving Jeannie's disagreements with her father, we have
no choice but to see things from Warren's side, because he
is the one calling all the shots here. ***
This intimate association with
the character of Warren Schmidt not only gives us some very
funny moments, but some very powerful ones as well. Throughout
the movie, Warren is constantly in search of something that
even he himself knows nothing of. He realizes that his life
has had no meaning for him, no bearing on the lives and actions
of those around him, and no overall purpose with which he
will be associated once he is gone from this world. There
is a single moment at the very end of the film, one of the
most definitive realizations in all of cinema, in which Warren
finally gets the answer to his most troubling question: "Who
have I helped?" ***
The overall movie works for two
mains reasons: Nicholson and Payne. As an actor, Jack has
always been the one true master at wit and charm; anyone who
doesn't believe me hasn't seen his performance in "As Good
as It Gets." Here, he leaves this and his other trademarks
for a role that requires very little of him, and yet so much
of him, and he locates this delicate balance and masters it
in one breathtaking, powerhouse piece of acting. As the director,
Payne keeps things as they should be: the first-person viewpoint,
the humor, the poignant vignettes of everyday life, all conspire
to create something lyrical, magical, and most of all, real.
"About Schmidt" relates to its audiences in ways that few
movies have ever achieved; for anyone searching for a sense
of purpose, your film has arrived.
|
| Image
and Sound |
A very nice-looking transfer from
New Line. The 1.85:1 anamorphic image is a splendid display
of various color palettes and tones, with excellent saturation
in the more vibrant scenes, and a washed out, somewhat flat
appearance in earlier moments. Fleshtones are good, and there
is no bleeding or smearing. Contrast also looks very, very
good, albeit with maybe one or two visible artifacts in the
presentation, while shadow detail is splendid and blacks rock-solid.
Edges are sharp with very little enhancement halos visible,
and the source print is in fine shape, so there's very little
in the way of film noise or grain. About perfect! ***
The sound is available in both DTS
and Dolby Digital 5.1 audio options, but unlike other, bigger
blockbuster motion pictures, there's not much of a difference
here between the two. Being that "About Schmidt" is mostly
a reserved piece when it comes to sound anyway, there are
only one or two instances where differences are discernable.
The soundfield gets a sizeable workout during an early thunderstorm,
with some nice atmospheric effects thrown here and there,
and the score by Rolfe Kent is ambient and well-recorded,
with a clean, efficient presence throughout. Dialogue sounds
natural and remains so, while the low end is mostly non-existent,
and isn't needed. Pretty impressive.
|
