About Schmidt (2002)
83%RT Audience Score: 74%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 2 Oscars
25 wins & 71 nominations total
In this funny, touching character study, Nicholson gives one of the best performances of his career
About Schmidt is a movie that will make you laugh, cry, and question your own life choices. Jack Nicholson delivers a heartfelt performance that will leave you feeling all the feels. But don’t let the PG-13 rating fool you, this movie is not for kids. It’s a character study that will make you reflect on your own life and wonder if you’re doing it right. So grab some tissues and get ready for a rollercoaster of emotions. And if you’re feeling down about your own life, just remember, at least you’re not Warren Schmidt.
Production Company(ies)
Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment,
Distributor
New Line Cinema
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Pioneer Village – 138 E. Highway 6, Minden, Nebraska, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for some language and brief nudity
Year of Release
2003
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital SDDS
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:2h 4m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Dec 20, 2002 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 3, 2003
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, Kathy Bates, Len Cariou, Howard Hesseman, June Squibb, directed by Alexander Payne, written by Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, comedy, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Nell Minow, Peter Rainer, Robert Denerstein, Stanley Kauffmann, Xan Brooks, Nev Pierce, Joanne Laurier, John Powers, Kevin Carr, Emanuel Levy, MPAA rating R, retirement, actuary, daughter’s wedding, loss of wife, character study, American life, self-discovery, humanized, extraordinary, Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, SDDS, Dolby A, Dolby Digital, Flat (1.85:1), New Line Cinema, Harry Gittes, Michael Besman, produced by
Worldwide gross: $105,834,556
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $171,544,242
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 778
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 18,707,115
US/Canada gross: $65,016,287
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $105,383,063
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 714
US/Canada opening weekend: $282,367
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $457,681
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,431
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $30,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $48,626,152
Production budget ranking: 814
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $26,185,183
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $96,732,906
ROI to date (est.): 129%
ROI ranking: 827
Hope Davis – Jeannie Schmidt
Dermot Mulroney – Randall Hertzel
Kathy Bates – Roberta Hertzel
Len Cariou – Ray Nichols
Howard Hesseman – Larry
Alexander Payne – Director
Harry Gittes, Michael Besman – Producers
Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor – Writers
Director(s)
Alexander Payne
Writer(s)
Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
Producer(s)
Harry Gittes, Michael Besman
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 2 Oscars
25 wins & 71 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (204) | Top Critics (50) | Fresh (175) | Rotten (29)
Heartfelt Nicholson, not for kids at all.
September 2, 2010 | Rating: 3/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
These filmmakers have a feeling for the isolation of blasted lives, but they also can’t resist putting them down.
January 16, 2003
Peter Rainer
New York Magazine/Vulture
TOP CRITIC
January 10, 2003 | Rating: B
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
TOP CRITIC
A poignant marker in the career of a major artist.
January 8, 2003
Stanley Kauffmann
The New Republic
TOP CRITIC
Ultimately this is a frustrating patchwork: an uneasy marriage of Louis Begley’s source novel (About Schmidt) and an old Payne screenplay.
January 7, 2003
Xan Brooks
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
This is a startling, resonant, life-affirming movie — both deeply funny and deeply moving.
January 7, 2003 | Rating: 5/5
Nev Pierce
BBC.com
TOP CRITIC
The latest film by Alexander Payne (Election, Citizen Ruth) scrutinizes features of America’s social fabric with a relatively sharp eye.
March 5, 2021
Joanne Laurier
World Socialist Web Site
A character study that has the emotional richness of the great Italian and Eastern European films of the 1960s, in which humor and pathos rode up and down on the seesaw together.
May 17, 2018
John Powers
L.A. Weekly
[It] toys with convention, leading us down that happy ending path and then hopping off of it again. It’s refreshing, if not humorously frustrating.
January 10, 2016 | Rating: 4/5
Kevin Carr
Fat Guys at the Movies
Sharply observed, Alexander Payne’s poignant comedy is a character study of an ordinary American, who embarks on a journey of self-discovery and in the process becomes humanized and extraordinary.
January 20, 2011 | Rating: A-
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
About Schmidt is a touching, human story about a man who comes to the realisation that his life is nothing more than a failure.
July 6, 2010 | Rating: 3.5/5
Matthew Pejkovic
Matt’s Movie Reviews
“About Schmidt” is a hostility-provoking film for the same reason that American citizens have lost their civil rights. The picture endorses, nay lionizes, complacency, inaction and the privilege of the greedy to steal whatever they covet simply because th
April 15, 2009 | Rating: D
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com…
Plot
Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) has led a safe, predictable life working in the insurance industry in Omaha, Nebraska 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, Colorado.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found in the Fresh Kernels database for About Schmidt.
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