Marcus Lundgren
Well, one scene that’s stuck with me for moving me to tears is the final scene of About Schmidt (2002).
In this film, Jack Nicholson plays Warren R. Schmidt, a recently retired actuary who struggles with his new life as a pensioner.
His unfaithful wife has just died from a blood clot in her brain.
His daughter wants to marry a man he can’t stand.
He tries to approach women without success.
He feels old and useless.
He’s depressed.
The only real source of happiness in his life is his Tanzanian foster child, Ndugu.
He has never met or spoken with this boy, but he sends him money and letters in which he writes down his thoughts and feelings about his wife’s passing and just how difficult life can be when you get old.
Over the course of the film, his mental and physical state deteriorates rapidly.
He stops grooming himself and walks around in his pajamas.
He leaves the house looking like this as well. Goes straight from his bed to the grocery store. He doesn’t care.
He finds his deceased wife’s love letters from one of their mutual friends.
He donates all of her possessions to charity.
He angrily confronts her lover.
Then he finally snaps and decides to take a long drive to visit his daughter.
He’s not invited but he wants to stop her wedding from taking place.
He shows up and is shown the door by his daughter. He’s not welcome.
Depressed, he then visits his old college campus and fraternity, as well as his former hometown in Nebraska, only to discover that his childhood home has been turned into a tire shop.
That night, he sits on top of his RV just staring into the darkness, when suddenly a bright meteor flies over his head. Seeing this as a sign of his dead wife forgiving him for being a terrible husband, he suddenly feels invigorated and decides to visit the parents of his son-in-law-to-be in Denver.
Things do not go well. While there, he meets his daughter once again and tries desperately to persuade her not to go through with the marriage.
She doesn’t listen. And later that night, while he’s taking a bath, the mother of his son-in-law-to-be, makes a pass at him by approaching him completely naked.
He flees the house.
The next day is the day of the wedding. He swallows his pride and manages to give a speech. For his daughter’s sake. Even though he hates her husband and his family.
Having now lost everything he once held dear, he returns home, feeling empty and defeated. He writes a letter to Ndugu in which he laments his old age, how he’ll soon be dead and how nothing in his life ever made any difference.
Then he checks the pile of mail that’s gathered while he was away. He finds a letter from Ndugu. He sits down to read it.
As it turns out, Ndugu is only 6 years old and cannot read or write himself. A nun has helped him compose his letter. But Ndugu is grateful for all the letters he’s received and thanks him for his financial support
He’s also drawn a crayon picture of two stick figures smiling and holding hands.
Schmidt realizes that he has made a difference and breaks down in tears.
This scene moved me for 2 reasons.
First of all, it was the sheer surprise of seeing the usually cool as ice Jack Nicholson display genuine emotion on camera. He had no shades to hide behind this time; no iconic smile or wolf eyes to make him look like the bad-ass guy he always is.
This scene felt REAL as if there was no acting involved at all.
It’s so good, in fact, that I wonder if Jack wasn’t perhaps crying over something he’d recently experienced in his real life? A great loss of some kind?
The second reason is that I’ve known quite a few older men who ended up alone and felt useless and as if their lives never had any meaning.
And if my life continues on the same path it’s currently on, I will be in the same situation one day, so I think I can empathize with Schmidt to a certain extent.
Wonderful film. Sadly, it seems almost forgotten today.
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