Early in “About Schmidt,” Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson), a vice president of Woodmen Insurance Company, finds himself at his own retirement dinner. One of his close friends rises, and, in a toast, denounces materialism and declares Schmidt to be one of the emotionally richest men in the world.
After receiving the charming compliment, Schmidt politely excuses himself, sits alone at the restaurant’s bar and orders a drink.
On the first morning of retirement Schmidt’s wife, Helen (June Squibb), surprises her husband with breakfast in their new RV. “Isn’t this fun?” she queries energetically. Schmidt stares at his wife with indifference.
A few hours later she dies from a blood clot in her brain.
Schmidt is stunned.
But not because he adored his wife. He is stunned because he now has no one to take care of him or tell him what to do. No longer must he sit when he urinates, as required by his wife. He is completely free to do as he pleases, and we discover that it is something he cannot handle.
Thinking back on his life, he realizes it was worthless. Meaninglessness bears down on his conscience, and he ruefully recounts the only thing his job taught him: calculating life expectancy. Drinking beer on a sofa chair, he turns it over in his mind: “I can predict, with 72 percent accuracy, that I will die in nine years.”
Now a retired widower, he decides to take a road trip in his RV. His daughter, Jeannie (Hope Davis), is about to marry Randall (Dermot Mulroney), a waterbed salesman, entrepreneurial failure and bona fide schmuck complete with mullet. Schmidt drives across the country and arrives at Randall’s house, where he meets Randall’s mother, Roberta (Kathy Bates), and the rest of Randall’s bizarre family. There he tries to make up for the worthless wreckage of his life by trying to save Jeannie from marrying a goober.
“About Schmidt” has an appropriate title because the film focuses only on Schmidt’s perspective and actions. Nicholson does a bang-up acting job. He convinces viewers to watch a pathetic, largely uninteresting man for more than two hours. Two scenes, especially the ending, highlight both the dynamics of Nicholson’s acting ability and Schmidt’s simple mind. Nicholson keeps us at a distance from Schmidt’s world, but in doing so intrigues us more.
The film’s message is subtle. It exhorts viewers to weed out meaninglessness in their lives, lest they become like Warren Schmidt. “About Schmidt” is touted as a comedy. It is funny, yes. But it’s also one of the saddest movies of the year.