Where did my life go?
Warren R. Schmidt is an old man who has always lacked the conviction to follow his youthful dreams. He finds himself enduring an unwanted retirement, sleeping next to a strange woman (his wife) every night, and dreading his daughter’s impending marriage to a white trash loser who sells waterbeds and gets involved with pyramid schemes that aren’t really pyramid schemes. He is tired and bored and disgusted and miserable… and he tells it all to Ndugu, his ‘Childreach foster son’ from Tanzania, to whom he writes letters and sends $22 checks every month. When his wife dies, Warren embarks on a Winnebago trip to visit his daughter’s in-laws-to-be, the week before the wedding. This is the story of Warren’s adventure into the world of ‘oblivious people’ who are simply unaware of the depth of his misery.
A poignant and touching performance by Jack Nicholson highlights this tragic comedy about a man who arrives at the tail end of a mundane and wasted life, only to discover that it’s even sadder than he feared. This is the story of a man who is desperate to start living and making a difference in the world just as he becomes aware that his time is running out.
It sounds more depressing than it actually is… I laughed out loud more times than I could count. The tale of Warren R. Schmidt is a profound one that is masterfully hidden beneath a goofy exterior. I laughed so much that I didn’t realize how much I started to care about the characters. I was quite amazed at how easily I cried as the final scene rolled… and all the credit for that must go to Jack Nicholson who gives yet another Oscar worthy performance.
The older you are (and I don’t mean in terms of literal years), the more you will appreciate this film. Warren’s letters to little Ndugu are like life lessons veiled as comedy. This film will stay with me for a long time.
