This DVD item from New Line Home Entertainment was reviewed on 22-Mar-2009.
About Schmidt Reference DVD. Classifications : General Action & Adventure Genres DVD Video Comic Action Action & Adventure Genres DVD Video General Comedy Genres DVD Video Black Comedy Comedy Genres DVD Video Family Gatherings By Theme Comedy Genr . Click the following link to view the cover of About Schmidt. Related topics: 2002-12-20. General. Action & Adventure. Genres. DVD. Video. Comic Action. Action & Adventure. Genres. DVD. Video. requestid: 8abb1155-6ae5-47ac-81f2-562aaaaa926f
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1) DVD DVD About Schmidt by New Line Home Entertainment. This film actually didn´t leave much of an impression on me the first time I saw it, but I recently re-watched it and decided it was quite brilliant. It is a dark, existential meditation on the mostly pointless life of a retired insurance executive, Jack Nicholson, whose only honest communications are with an orphaned six year-old boy he is sponsoring through an international aid agency. I was struck by the care that went into every scene and the understated humor which, while often cruel, really struck a chord. The characters are wonderfully quirky and well conceived (Kathy Bates is a total riot) and some brilliant makeup artist made Dermot Mulroney so unattractive as to be unrecognizable. The camera often lingers mercilessly on Nicholson´s face, which is made (or allowed) to look as puffy and creased as possible, and with this palate of aging flesh he is a master painter of facial expressions. Nicholson´s road trip across Nebraska also incorporates brilliant bits of Americana. The deleted scenes are interesting, and accompanied by very revealing director´s commentary. Make sure to watch the one in which Jack Nicholson orders breakfast and the server tells him "no substitutions," echoing the iconic scene from Five Easy Pieces. And while the film is quite bleak, it is not without redemptive qualities.¤ 2) DVD DVD About Schmidt by New Line Home Entertainment. We recently rented this film and we watched it about 4 times. We laughed so much when we watched it. Even though it starts out on a little sad note, it revolves into one of Jack Nicholson´s funniest films. (In my opinion) We are big fans of him anyway. It does seem to be a little different than some of his films, but some events I identified with. I was trying to find the film to buy and searched the internet and found it on your site. We have watched it again and still laughed our heads off. I hope everyone will enjoy it as much as we have.¤ 3) DVD DVD About Schmidt by New Line Home Entertainment. It takes about 1 second for Jack Nicholson to elicit the first laugh in Alexander Panyne´s About Schmidt, and to remind us why he´s one of film´s all-time greats. Nicholson´s ability to emote enormous amounts of information without saying a word is one of the central tools Payne uses to tell his story; and it´s one hell of a powerful tool. Nicholson plays Warren Schmidt, an Omaha actuary who, upon retirement finds himself in an existential crisis. Essentially, the film is about the meaning of one man´s life; it´s a tough subject matter and one that Payne and Nicholson handle confidently and effectively.
At the age of 65, Warren Schmidt finds himself with nothing to do but write hilariously overly detailed letters to his African foster kid, Ndugu. When his overbearing wife of 42 years dies suddenly, Schmidt decides to take a cross-country trip on the way to his daughter´s wedding. Warren doesn´t really have a good idea of what he´s looking for on his journey and the trip itself is less than exciting (like Schmidt himself). But watching Nicholson inhabit this drab little man is a wonder. When he does eventually arrive in Denver and meets his future in-laws, the film becomes relentlessly hilarious. Kathy Bates is brilliant as the boozy "free-spirited" mom of Dermot Mulroney (giving a great little performance himself), Schmidt´s dimwitted future son-in-law. And Howard Hesseman - due for a comeback - is very funny as an overly laid back aging hippy. But it´s always Nicholson´s reactions to these characters that really brings out the comedy here... and the pathos as well.
About Schmidt is not a perfect film. The pacing is slower than it should have been and the first two acts drag on a bit too long. Frankly, without Nicholson´s high-wattage brilliance, none of this would have been nearly as effective as it is. But with all the pieces where they are, About Schmidt succeeds more often than it fails and, in the end, presents one man´s quest for meaning as both funny and surprisingly moving.¤ 4) DVD DVD About Schmidt by New Line Home Entertainment. That´s the way it is for many modern men in Warren Schmidt´s position. He has just retired, his wife has died, and he finds himself lonely and not knowing what to do with himself or what his life has meant. Warren has a daughter he dotes on and she´s about to marry a nice but goofy guy, so he travels to Denver in a Winnebago, having some adventures along the way. What holds this all together is his frequent letters to Ndugu, a small boy in Africa whom Warren has taken on as a foster child via ChildReach. And it´s Ndugu´s response which finally gives Warren a reason to go on living, at the very end.
Often sad, sometimes funny.¤ 5) DVD DVD About Schmidt by New Line Home Entertainment. This was a good movie. It is entirely appropriate that it ended without a resolution, as this is what existentialism essentially says: There is no point, so there is no resolution.
The movie seemed a thematic mix of "Welcome to the Dollhouse" and "American Splendor." The characters bore resemblances of someone that we might know (Splendor) and the ending seemed to suggest "This may be as good as it gets" (Dollhouse).
If you a willing participant in existential discourse, then this is a good choice for a rental.¤ 6) DVD DVD About Schmidt by New Line Home Entertainment. Warren Schmidt (Nicholson) is about to taste a not so sweet slice of life. When he retired, he and his wife Helen had big plans, but an unexpected twist changed everything. Now, all of Schmidt´s attention is focused his daughter´s upcoming wedding to a loser waterbed salesman. From meeting hippie parents to sponsoring a Tanzanian foster child, Schmidt embarks on a search for answers...and discovers that life is full of trick questions. DVD Features:
DVD ROM Features
Deleted Scenes
Theatrical Trailer:Deleted Scenes - 9 scenes Woodmen Sequences Theatrical Trailer - 16X9 Widescreen More theatrical trailers from New Line: Unconditional Love I Am Sam Link to Original Website Childreach.org link
¤7) DVD DVD About Schmidt by New Line Home Entertainment. While confirming Jack Nicholson´s status as an American national treasure, About Schmidt is sure to provoke polarized reactions. Stoked by the success of Election, director Alexander Payne and cowriter Jim Taylor have altered Louis Begley´s novel to suit their comedic agenda, turning Nicholson´s titular character into a 66-year-old, newly retired Omaha insurance actuary, weary from decades of drudgery and passionless marriage. When his wife suddenly dies, he attempts to reclaim his life in a king-sized Winnebago, desperate to convince his daughter (Hope Davis) not to marry the Denver dimwit (Dermot Mulroney) whose mother (Kathy Bates) has her own baggage of peculiar peccadilloes. Nicholson perfectly (and often hilariously) nails the seething anger beneath his character´s façade of resignation, but Payne and Taylor convey cold-hearted contempt for these Midwestern malcontents. Think of this as Ikiru with bleaker humanity, until Schmidt finds meaning--and some small reward--in a quiet gesture of goodwill. Love it or hate it, About Schmidt is a movie you won´t soon forget. --Jeff Shannon¤ Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 19-Apr-2009, 0780642716794043631924, 000-810-KGB-SKB-A8B-AAB-MAB-8 
About Schmidt, DVD, Image © New Line Home Entertainment
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