Fathers are not well understood by their wives or daughters, according to About Schmidt, a film based on the novel by Louis Begley. When the film begins, Warren Schmidt (played by Jack Nicholson) awaits the arrival of 5:00 PM to leave his office at Woodmen Insurance Company in Omaha so that he can drive to his retirement party. At the age of 66, he is retiring after many years as an actuarist, a position to be relinquished to a younger man (played by Matt Winston). At the well-attended party, the younger man and an old friend Ray (played by Len Carious) raise their glasses in a toast, and he beams alongside his spouse of forty-two years, Helen (played by June Squibb). But after the toasts, he leaves the dinner table and guests, goes to the nearby bar, and orders a vodka gimlet, so we know that the retirement is not exactly his idea, though the law prohibits involuntary retirement and replacement by a younger person. Adjusting to a life of retirement is not easy for a workaholic whose independent wife pays little attention to him. Aside from running errands, he tries to enjoy daytime TV. The only thing that strikes his interest is Angela Lansbury's ad for Childreach, so he writes a $22 check to sponsor a child, and soon he receives word that he is the sponsor of Ngudu Umbo, a six-year-old Tanzanian boy. Childreach urges him to write to his child, which he does. Monologues throughout About Schmidt record his feelings, quite often very sad ones, as the texts of letters to Ngudu. One day, he goes out to mail a letter to Ngudu; when he returns, his spouse has suddenly died of an aneurysm while scrubbing the kitchen floor. Subsequently, his daughter Jeannie (played by Hope Davis) and her fiancé Randall (played by Dermot Mulroney) arrive from Denver to attend the funeral service. Schmidt has misgivings about whether Randall is the right man for his daughter, especially after he tries to con him about a pyramid investment scheme. But Jeannie cannot be dissuaded from her choice of spouse, and she even criticizes Schmidt for selecting a cheap casket. The distance between father and daughter is wide, and her tone of voice with him is quite curt, as if he were a child. After the funeral, Schmidt has to learn how to live on his own for the first time in forty-two years, and his house becomes a pigsty. As an actuarist, he now knows that his life expectancy has shrunk to nine years--unless he can remarry. Then Schmidt decides to get in his Winnebago to drive to Denver so that he can be near his daughter. En route, he calls her to announce his plan, saying that he will help with wedding preparations, but she insists that he should return home to Omaha, since all the wedding arrangements are under control; her statement is a falsehood, as we later learn. Schmidt then decides to take a sentimental journey to his Nebraska birthplace (now a retail tire store), his alma mater (the University of Kansas), and he enjoys the adventure. Then he arrives in Denver to stay at the home of Randall's mother, Roberta (played by Kathy Bates), a double divorcée who slowly begins to come on to him, ultimately shocking Schmidt by trying to fondle him in the outdoor hot tub. Although Schmidt tries to share his misgivings about the marriage to his daughter, she is surprised that he has suddenly taken an interest in her life, yet she firmly insists that he must either support the marriage or return to Omaha. The following day, she has a fit over something, and Schmidt evidently realizes that his daughter deserves the man whom he believes is unworthy. The wedding goes well, and Schmidt heads back to Omaha. When he arrives, there is a letter from a missionary who is handling Ngudu's case. For as long as Schmidt can remember, nobody has ever appreciated his feelings, which he has been pouring into many letters to Ngudu. On opening Ngudu's letter, he realizes that his pen pal is a six-year-old who really cares about him. His response, which is well worth the price of admission, ends the film. Despite the obvious sadness of the plot, About Schmidt is supposed to be a comedy--a tragicomedy, more exactly. But audience laughter is spotty. Comedic music and Nicolson's priceless facial expressions lamely serve to cover up the pathos. Directed by Alexander Payne, About Schmidt gets into the mind of a man who retires, feeling that he has been a failure, yet has nobody to comfort him, and he has to come to terms with the fact that society now considers him useless. The plight of Schmidt, in short, is a paradigm for how America treats senior citizens. MH

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About Schmidt
by Louis Begley

Albert Schmidt is a retired lawyer who misses his recently deceased wife, has an unhealthy diet, is a mild anti-Semite and owns a nice home in the Hamptons he feels compelled to offer to his daughter as a wedding present.