Plot
A man upon retirement embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding only to discover more about himself and life than he ever expected.
Release Year: 2002
Rating: 7.2/10 (66,593 voted)
Critic's Score: 85/100
Director:
Alexander Payne
Stars: Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney
Storyline Warren Schmidt has led a safe, predictable life working in the insurance industry in Omaha, Nebr. for many years, yet now faces retirement. At the same time he is forced to take a hard look at his wife, his life and his relationship with his estranged daughter. An often hilarious series of events follow as Schmidt embarks on an unpredictable RV journey to attend his daughter's wedding in Denver.
Writers: Louis Begley, Alexander Payne
Cast: Jack Nicholson
-
Warren Schmidt
Kathy Bates
-
Roberta Hertzel
Hope Davis
-
Jeannie Schmidt
Dermot Mulroney
-
Randall Hertzel
June Squibb
-
Helen Schmidt
Howard Hesseman
-
Larry Hertzel
Harry Groener
-
John Rusk
Connie Ray
-
Vicki Rusk
Len Cariou
-
Ray Nichols
Mark Venhuizen
-
Duncan Hertzel
Cheryl Hamada
-
Saundra
Phil Reeves
-
Minister in Denver
Matt Winston
-
Gary Nordin - Warren's Replacement
James M. Connor
-
Randall's Best Man
(as James Micheal Connor)
Jill Anderson
-
Bridesmaid Reading St. Paul
Filming Locations: 5402 Izard Street, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Box Office Details
Budget: $30,000,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $282,367
(USA)
(15 December 2002)
(6 Screens)
Gross: $65,010,106
(USA)
(26 May 2003)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
The production crew created a lifetime Endowed Scholarship for the real-life Ndugu, Abdallah Mtulu, through the real Childreach organization.
Goofs:
Errors in geography:
When Warren is in Colorado, there are Nebraska license plates on cars parked in driveways.
Quotes: Warren Schmidt:
You can't marry him. I mean... Look at these people!
User Review
Life's quirks
Rating:
I love Nicolson and I thought his work in this film was as good as any
I have seen him do in any of his previous films. My accolades must
begin with the writers for creating such a beautiful novel and script-a
perfect canvas for the many fine actors in this film upon which they
wove their considerable magic. There were no killings, no car chases,
no violence of any kind-I'm surprised that Hollywood distributed it.
Such a slice of life-American life with it's many warts-warts that the
Americans probably don't even recognize: Winnebagos like moving
palaces, freeway monuments to genocide, business that consumes it's
workers only to dump them unceremoniously, too much of everything that
amounts to emptiness, etc., etc. The novel by Begley, upon which the
film was based, illustrated this consumer emptiness brilliantly by the
inclusion of the bookends to the film, the sponsorship of the Tanzanian
child by Schmidt. The child's material emptiness was contrasted with
Schmidt's emotional emptiness in a way America does not recognize much
less watch on the screen.
The last part of the movie dealing with the marriage of Schmidt's
daughter to a man who came from a diametrically opposite "new age"
family was an unstated acknowledgment by his daughter that she wanted
nothing of her father's values-she wanted a complete break and she was
going to marry the break.
A fascinating, complex movie and I'm sorry I didn't see it much
earlier.
0