Calgary

[ATTENTION: This review reveals content of the movie.]
With the Oscars approaching I felt an urge to see Jack's performance before the big night. He didn't disappoint. I thought, given the limits of his character, he did a fine job of keeping himself within this everyman's state of repressed anger and sadness throughout the film. Kudos to Kathy Bates, Hope Davis and Howard Hesseman in their roles and a nod to Dermot Mulroney who plays a well meaning if somewhat daft future son-in-law. The pace of the film is a little slow, probably a deliberate choice to allow us to get to know Schmidt's world and see the nature of his struggles after retirement in almost "real time". I thought also it was refreshing to have the only major product placement (other than Schmidt's Cadillac which breaks down after all) to be the "Child Reach" foster parents plan. Overall a satisfying film with a tour de force Nicholson performance in an uncharacteristally understated fashion. I felt the story could have used a couple of more beats so that Schmidt's assessment of himself just prior to the end of the film wouldn't have seemed somewhat false. A good movie if you like introspective character studies but definitely not one for the "cars driving of cliffs" set.

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