TheRetroCritic

Jack Nicholson is Warren Schmidt, an old dude who goes on a road trip after his wife's death in order to stop his daughter from getting married to a loser, occasionally he writes inappropriate letters to an African child he's never met. Yes, I know, it doesn't sound like THE story of our time but don't be fooled, About Schmidt is one of director Alexander Payne's best and boasts one of Nicholson's best performances. For one thing he's not grinning, laughing maniacally or generally being a nutjob so against-type? I think so. His Warren is an imperfect man of contradictions: mild-mannered and very much an introvert, he's always deep in thought yet doesn't seem to think things through completely, prone to adapting to a certain routine yet impulsive, sweet but a bit tight with his money and occasionally pretty selfish. He's a man of few words but a hell of a lot is going on in his head whether it's complaints about his wife's little ann

Surprisingly watchable sequel with an ageing Anthony Perkins twitching his way through his fading sanity. There are clumsy, dated effects, although they add comedy value (the knife through the mouth is always a winner) and the ending is somewhat rushed but the film is saved by some clever shots and an interesting enough storyline. But seriously now: who asked for a Psycho sequel? Granted there was a sequel to Bloch's novel but waiting until right after Alfred Hitchcock's death to step on his feet feels somewhat unnecessary and kinda sneaky. Sure there's enough in Norman Bate's release from the institution to tell a story, it's just not a story we really needed to be told. Besides, 23 years is a very long gap between both films and attempting to match the original's class, style and mood so late in the game is futile to say the least. Then again, after the initial feeling of WTF, once you get into Norman's more personal story you soon find