(Rated R, 125 mins.) Jack is back as Warren Schmidt (Jack Nicholson), a retired insurance guy who is about to find himself at several crossroads. No sooner does he retire than his wife, Helen (June Squibb), dies suddenly. At the same time, his daughter, the love of his life, Jeannie (Hope Davis,) is about to marry a loser waterbed salesman named Randall (Dermot Mulroney), who comes from a wacky family with a mother (Kathy Bates) who breast-fed him until he was five. Schmidt’s only comfort is a series of letters (with way too much information) that he writes/narrates to the Tanzanian foster child whom Schmidt sponsors. Determined to find his life alone, the retiree takes off cross-country in a Winnebago, certain that his only purpose in life is to stop his daughter’s wedding. Part of the adventure is getting there and Schmidt proves just that with a this-is-my-boring-life realization. There’s no Hollywood arc, there’s no revelation, but who says death should dictate what the living should be or become? We all have a miserable old uncle or grandfather or even dad we’ll recognize in Nicholson’s performance. Real life isn’t a movie. The revelation is Schmidt figuring out that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. But if Nicholson doesn’t get an Oscar nod, then the Academy doesn’t know Jack.
