Alexander Payne's look at an ordinary man's late-life crisis lacks the sharp satiric kick of his earlier efforts, but is marked by knowing observations about the Midwestern middle class and a ...

(indieWIRE/05.23.02) — With their pitch-dark comedies “Citizen Ruth” and “Election,” writer-director Alexander Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor emerged as premiere satirists of the American scene –acute ...

Alexander Payne’s end-of-life road movie About Schmidt (New Line) is like a Twilight Zone episode in which Jack Nicholson awakes to find himself a 66-year-old former actuary and assistant vice ...

Ever since I first saw the dark comedy Election in 1999, I’ve followed Alexander Payne closely through the highs of About Schmidt and Sideways to the lows of Downsizing. He’s a fantastic writer and ...

The buzz began in earnest four months ago, just after About Schmidt first screened at the Cannes Film Festival. Jack really delivers! He’s looking at Oscar No. 4! Nicholson certainly won’t discuss ...

IN "ABOUT Schmidt," a 35-foot motor home waits silently outside the Nebraska home of insurance executive Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson) and his wife, Helen (June Squibb). The Schmidts intend to drive ...

Neither a flat-out comedy nor a straight-faced drama, About Schmidt, directed and co-written by Alexander Payne, is a low-keyed character study that balances its tone between the whimsical and the ...

A movie in which Jack Nicholson galvanizes the screen is never too far away from at least one Oscar nomination (for its three-time winning star), but “About Schmidt” has the earmarks of an award ...

When he's forced to retire, and his wife drops dead, and his mood grows as gloomy as the gray Nebraska sky, Warren Schmidt takes to the road in his new Winnebago. It's a 35-footer the little lady ...