About Schmidt

About Schmidt

What is it about a movie that addresses the inherent futility of life that makes it so depressing to watch? Oh yeah, the inherent futility of life. The darkly comic About Schmidt, released in 2002, concerns a widower, played by Jack Nicholson, whose relationship with his late wife had deteriorated before her death to the point of bitter hatred. Upon discovering evidence in the closet that his wife had been having an affair with a friend, Schmidt takes to the wheel of their oversized retirement plan — a Winnebago — and hits the road in order to try and dissuade his daughter from marrying an unsuitable fiancée. The movie is at times so dismal it’s hard to watch (but not in a bad way; it’s a good film), but great dialogue and expert performances from Nicholson and Kathy Bates make for a tongue-firmly-in-cheek satire of growing old and amounting to nothing.