About Schmidt

About Schmidt (2002)

Timing: 2:5 (125 min)

6.8/10
1185

7.266/10
14949

0/10
0

All about film

Video 2

Photo 13

Actors and characters

Release date

2002-12-12

Country

United States

Production

New Line Cinema, Avery Pix

Genre

Drama, Comedy

Budget

$30 000 000

Revenue

$105 834 556

Website

Director

Alexander Payne

Actors

Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, June Squibb, Howard Hesseman, Harry Groener, Connie Ray, Len Cariou, Mark Venhuizen
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Jim Taylor

Producer

Michael Besman, Harry Gittes, Bill Badalato, Rachael Horovitz

Operator

James Glennon

Composer

Rolfe Kent

Artist

Audition

Editing

Kevin Tent
All team (27)

• The scene where Nicholson sleeps in the bathroom is a reference to Jacques-Louis David's neoclassical painting 'The Death of Marat'.
• Phil Reeves, who played the priest at the wedding, also appeared in another film by Alexander Payne – 'Election' from 1999 – as the school principal.
• The film is based on the novel of the same name by Louis Begley from 1996, although all that connects them is the title and the name of the main character (Warren Schmidt). All other details – Schmidt's profession, place of residence, the cause of his wife's death, and so on – have been changed. Important plot elements from the book, such as his connection with Carrie, his attitude towards Jews, and the sale of his house, are not reflected in the film.
• At the 25th minute of the film, when the protagonist finds his wife dead, the sound of a running vacuum cleaner can be heard in the house. However, in the wide shot, a fork lying next to his wife's body is clearly visible, and it is not plugged into an outlet. The next shot shows this supposedly working vacuum cleaner, but the fibers from the carpet near the brush are completely still, although they should be sucked in if the vacuum cleaner was actually turned on.