Alexander Payne’s About Schmidt purports to be a comedy about “risk assessment.” When his wife of 42 years, Helen (June Squibb), keels over next to the vacuum cleaner, Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) takes his Winnebago for a spin across the Midwest. A Childreach commercial narrated by Angela Lansbury provokes Schmidt to donate $22 a month to a starving African boy named Ndugu, and Schmidt’s letters to the boy are the director’s cheap excuse for a commentary track, but his protagonist’s self-centered voiceover also functions as a running gag. With every mention of “Dear Ndugu,” an otherwise ingratiating Nicholson invites laughter from the audience and succeeds in making light of the child’s predicament.
After his retirement, Schmidt grows to resent his wife’s presence (“Who is this old woman living inside my house?” he asks himself), but her death will restore his love for her, in spite of Payne denying him a moment’s peace with her memory. Upon discovering a shoebox full of love letters written to Helen by his best friend Ray (Len Cariou), Schmidt throws out his wife’s clothing and jewelry in a fit of rage, and after hunting Ray down and giving him a piece of his mind, the frazzled retiree seems to come around. Payne, though, continues to frustrate Schmidt’s chance at peace-of-mind. For example, as Schmidt leaves a message of apology on his friend’s answering machine, an automated operator dutifully cuts him off.
During the film’s most tender moment, Schmidt toasts to his daughter and son-in-law’s future not because he approves of his daughter’s choice in a husband but because he knows that she will not love him without his approval. Honest, yes, but even this act of faith is a self-aggrandizing one. If Payne’s snide sense of humor went hand-in-hand with Election’s political context, here it condescends to the Midwest pastoral. When Schmidt arrives in Denver, he stays at the home of his daughter’s future mother-in-law (Kathy Bates). When he looks out the window at a man throwing out his garbage, it’s unsurprising that the man is overweight, half-dressed, and in obvious need of a shower. The whole of the film is pieced together from such tacky disdain. (Among Payne’s whipping posts: water beds, mullets, and Bates’s sagging breasts.) Schmidt is a credible creation yet Payne’s contempt runs synonymous to that of his native son’s. Schmidt shows nothing but scorn for the world around him and expects love in return. Ndugu promises fulfillment but Schmidt’s young “other” is a mere afterthought to his legacy of hate.
Image/Sound
New Line Home Entertainment has officially spoiled us with their DVD Infinifilm editions. About Schmidt doesn’t get the Infinifilm red carpet treatment, but even by normal DVD standards this is a pretty skimpy package. Presented in its original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio, the film is aesthetically subdued but there’s an overall mugginess and haziness to the print that can prove distracting. Some edge haloing is noticeable (look around Nicholson’s head in chapter 5) but blacks are clean and the print overall is free of dirt and very film-like. The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track’s dynamic range is incredibly expansive considering that the film is so dialogue-driven.
Extras
About Schmidt received enough critical attention (some very negative) to merit an audio commentary from its director. Alas, no such luck. Payne, though, found the time to write down notes explaining why nine scenes were deleted from the film. These scenes are all presented here within the context of the film. Most were deleted for timing purposes but what makes this collection so noteworthy is just how good some of these omissions actually are. Payne’s words suggest that he was more concerned with pacing and getting Nicholson’s character on the road than establishing a few relationship traumas: one scene inside a restaurant wonderfully establishes the horror of routines and another fleshes out the relationship between Schmidt and his daughter. Also included is the films theatrical trailer, trailers for I Am Sam and Unconditional Love, and an atmospheric collection of five short films centering around the Woodman Tower and shot by Payne’s assistant directors.
Overall
About Schmidt’s contempt spills over into the inside of the DVD case, where a Childreach advertisement claims that you can “Meet the REAL Ndugu!” before asking you to donate money to a starving child in Africa.
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