BEFORE: From a film about dying to a film about the alternative - getting old.
THE PLOT: Warren Schmidt enters retirement - soon after, his wife passes away and he must come to terms with his daughter's marriage to a man he does not care for.
AFTER: In some ways, this is the opposite of last night's film - "The Bucket List" was about a rich man traveling around the world to do everything he can, and this was about a middle-class man driving around the country doing...well, not much.
Warren Schmidt needs some time to get over his wife's death, so he takes off in his RV to drive to his daughter's wedding, and see the sights along the way - like his old college, Buffalo Bill's house, and an arrowhead museum.
The film works as a character study of a man who, once he has time to reflect, comes to consider that he might be a failure, that he might not have had a positive impact on the world, and will eventually die and be forgotten. His thoughts on life and death are written in letters to an African child that he sponsors through one of those TV charities.
Ultimately, though, I didn't think that this movie had a lot to say - there just wasn't much to grab on to. If the goal was to demonstrate that life is hopeless and pointless, well, then, mission accomplished.
Also starring Kathy Bates (last seen in "A Civil Action"), Hope Davis (last seen in "Synecdoche, New York"), Dermot Mulroney (last seen in "Flash of Genius"), and Howard Hesseman (last seen in "The Sunshine Boys").
RATING: 3 out of 10 Advils
JACK-O-METER: 4 out of 10. Jack's character has essentially given up here, there's not much fight left in him. After about 90 minutes there are some signs of life, but it's too little, too late - by then he's been out-acted by Kathy Bates.
No comments:
Post a Comment