As with some of the best Hollywood stars, there are movies where Jack Nicholson is doing a star turn and there are movies where he’s acting. The star turns aren’t necessarily bad, but one doesn’t watch him as the Joker in “Batman” (1989) or the Devil in “Witches of Eastwick” (1987) for the subtlety of his performance. However when Nicholson decides to bring a character to life, he’s so captivating that you forget he’s a movie star. Such is the case with “About Schmidt.”
At the start of the movie, Warren Schmidt (Nicholson) is sitting alone in his office watching the last few moments of his professional life tick away. After a career in the insurance industry, Warren is retiring. Contemplating what comes next isn’t very appetizing. Despite the upbeat talk about his elder statesman status at the farewell party, the company no longer has any use for him. His wife’s (June Squibb) plans aren’t all that exciting either. She wants to see the country aboard the new mobile camper they’ve purchased.
About the only bright spot in his life is his daughter (Hope Davis), but she and Warren have a strained relationship which has been mediated by her mother. When Mrs. Schmidt makes an early exit from the story, Warren is all alone, faced with the prospect of his daughter marrying a waterbed salesman (Dermot Mulroney) of whom he does not approve.
In a contrivance that works brilliantly, Warren starts pouring his heart out to Ndugu, an unseen African child who he is sponsoring through a charitable foundation that advertised on TV. One can only imagine what Ndugu makes of these letters, about people – indeed about a world – he’s never seen, but that’s what makes the film work. This faraway boy is the only one Warren can address with complete freedom.
The movie becomes Warren’s odyssey from his retirement to his daughter’s wedding. The suspense – not to be spoiled here – comes from wondering what he’s going to do when his last lifeline, his daughter, breaks free.
This is Nicholson’s film all the way, although Davis and Mulroney offer ample support, and Kathy Bates – as Mulroney’s free-spirited mother – nearly steals the show when she invites Warren to a late night session in her hot tub. Through his side trips and discoveries, Nicholson shows us a man wondering if his life has had any meaning.
Viewers will have to decide for themselves if the final scene of the film is an affirmation of life or a final ironic twist. Given the previous films by director and co-writer Alexander Payne (“Citizen Ruth,” “Election”), out and out cynicism can’t be ruled out. Yet whatever Payne’s intent, Nicholson insists that we take Warren Schmidt seriously. He’s an Everyman wondering if his entire life has been meaningless. If it has, then what hope is there for the rest of us?
Jack Nicholson once again demonstrates his willingness to submerge himself into a role, creating a memorable character in the process. With laughs, with bitterness, and with some pain, Nicholson makes sure we care “About Schmidt.”