The ending... - About Schmidt (2003) Discussion

[–] Jamo57 15 years ago

I can certainly understand your reaction to the ending as it is very similar to how I reacted the first time seeing the film in the theater. I walked out very perplexed and a little unsatisfied.

I rented the DVD when it came out and liked the movie more and more, eventually buying a copy. Each time since the first viewing I really study the final scene trying to determine what is going on inside the mind of Warren Schmidt.

Over time my interpretation of his feelings have changed yet I still study that final scene very closely to take it all in. I guess I am saying that I have come to really appreciate the final scene as it is so compelling and ambiguous to a certain degree. And the fact that I still study it so closely is perhaps another sign of strong movie-making?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qL-CgzQ0FY&feature=related

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[–] rositamelvin 15 years ago

I think he did have an epiphany. I think that once he returned home and received the letter from Ndugu's caretaker, and the picture Ndugu drew for him, he realized that his life made a difference to someone after all.

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[–] wlandolfi-1 15 years ago

I like to also point out that just before the very end of the film where Warren Schmidt breaks down and cries when he sees the picture from Ndugu, he is just about to give up on life. Why do I say this? Warren has just returned from his daughter's wedding. He feels like a failure because he was not able to stop his daughter from marrying the man she married. Furthermore, he is lonely and feels like he has nothing to show for himself. He even says in his last letter to Ndugu "What kind of difference have I made? What is better in the world because of me? None, that I can think of." Because of this, I think Warren's spirits were lifted when he read the letter from Ndugu's caretaker and saw the drawing from Ndugu. It made him realize that he did indeed make a difference in someone's life. Of course, one never knows what would happen to Warren afterward. I like to think that while he probably would not change that much, he would probably want to make the most out of his remaining years.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Edward_de_Vere 15 years ago

There are two ways to see the ending.

The usual take is that it's a "happy" ending, with Schmidt crying tears of joy when he realizes that he's made a difference in at least some person's life.

I always thought that it was a very sad scene, and that Schmidt was crying because he realized that he doesn't have anything else in his life.

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[–] shellshock-6 15 years ago

Schmidt was crying because he realized that he doesn't have anything else in his life.

More specifically, because he doesn't have any real connection to anyone. The painting didn't confirm what he was thinking as he was driving home. If anything it showed him he'd gotten it all wrong. He wasn't unhappy because of his lack of accomplishments, or of making a difference to the world or to people. He was unhappy because he lacked friends.

The events in the movie are a nonstop stream of opportunities to make new friends, and he pushes each one of them away. Not because he's so damaged that he wants to be alone, but because he's too selfish to realize the importance of the opportunities. All of his reasons are selfish:

High expectations for his only daughter. He would have gotten along well with his son-in-law's dad. He was the only normal one in the family, and not a bad old fella in general. Their sanity amidst the chaos would have given them plenty of material to bond over.

Pride, in not wanting to have to repeat his weighty reconciliation speech to a dumb answering machine. All he had to do was pick up the phone and try again, "lowering" himself to rush it a little bit the next time.

Lust, or at least a really foolish attempt at instantly alleviating his lonliness. The traveling couple were dorks, but they couldn't be any more friendly or inviting. They could have made a passable replacement for all the fun he was supposed to have on the road with his wife.

The only hope we're supposed to have for him, is after he realizes he went through all that loss and it took, of all things, a simple representation of friendship to make him finally break down, he might be able to realize his problems all stem from his selfishness.

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[–] loverdancergr 14 years ago

I love the way you are thinking..
I couldn't agree more.

"I can resist everything except temptation!" O.W

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[–] stevem-861-845462 14 years ago

The title says it all. It's all "about Warren Schmidt"! and in the end who does he have but himself.

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[–] Yngvelli 14 years ago

I think its a mixtures of differemt emotions. Sadness in the sense that he basically have no friends or family the care about him. Happiness in the sense that theres actually one person out there who cares for him.
I got this impression from Nicholsons very last expression in the movie. The expression doesnt look depressing at all, but rather that hes "at peace" with himself. Atleast for some time.

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[–] MattressMuzza (1) 7 years ago

Depressing as it is, this is my favourite reading of the ending so far!

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[–] bbomberr 15 years ago

I always thought he cried because he not only realized he made a change in the boy's life but also he was wrong about the wedding and new family. He realizes all his 'mistakes' and wished he could have turned back the hands of time. If he realized this, I think his relationship with his new family would only improved in the years to come. And he would become a lot happier again.

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[–] matti_vaisanen 15 years ago

I thought that one of the reasons why Warren broke down in tears was because Ndugu was probably the only person who really cared for him, as his daughter was mad at him and his best friend had twotimed him.

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[–] t_bunson 15 years ago

Nonsense. What arrogance to think that throwing a few cents at an anonymous TV charity makes someone a great person. Life is not so shallow and manipulatable.

The ending was meant to be a revelation via despair. It was Schmidt's (or the audience's, your pick) realization of absolute emptiness and irrelevance -- not some cheesy feel-good catharsis.

The letter was an epiphany, but only in the sense that true goodness and reward come from sincere action and effort and struggle. There is no shortcut to a satisfied soul.

I believe it is a hopeful ending in an odd kind of way. It's a call to action. Really, if it were meant to be a "happy" scene, it would be far more depressing and meaningless.

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[–] Slickflix 15 years ago

My thoughts exactly T_Bunson. This is certainly one of the most cynical movies I can say I've seen. It actually took me a second viewing to appreciate what was going on in Warren's mind through the course of the film. By the time he's driving home Denver, he begins to realize that perhaps his life may have been a waste. But seeing the picture really drove that point home for him, so to speak.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] jaddison383 15 years ago

Ugh. Why do you want to be depressed? Frankly I do not agree with you and nothing you say will convince me to. Certainly the ending is not a happy fairytale finale signifying 'yea, i helped an orphan! i'm a good person!' for Schmidt; Rather, it's a revelation (stated pretty well earlier) enforcing to him that he has wasted his life doing nothing and now has nothing of significance. But now, through a tiny small step, he has been able to make some kind of difference in the smallest way. Maybe he can even take further steps in the future... We don't know for sure. But we know that we can.

LAST MOVIE SEEN: The Soloist
RATING: 8/10 stars!

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[–] shellshock-6 15 years ago

I don't think anyone wants to be depressed. I do think you want so much not to be that you'll ignore logic. Which is exactly what you're doing if you thought his tears had anything whatsoever to do with some kid in africa.

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[–] jaddison383 15 years ago

Um, no. You are ignoring logic if you want to say that the tears had nothing to do with the kid in Africa. Even if that is not the main source of his anguish, as some have said, that is still what brought on his breakdown. Trust me, I don't mind sad movies, and I am in no way denying that this is a heartbreaking film rather than a comedy as most people think; it is most certainly not a comedy. But it's not hopeless...

LAST MOVIE SEEN: The Visitor
RATING: 7/10 stars!

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[–] sillyhat 14 years ago

I agree with you. I think some commentators here are out-thinking themselves and trying to find hidden messages that don't have to be there. I'm sure Warren is feeling a range of emotions, which produce the tears. But at least *one* of those emotions has to be hope. He just received a letter telling him that there is someone out there actually reading (or listening to someone read) his letters and thinking about him, and who wants his friendship. You've got to come from a pretty cynical place to assume Warren is writing all that off at the end.

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[–] fidelio1980 13 years ago

Right before Jack Nicholson's character read the letter, we heard the monologue where he admits to himself that he didn't mean anything to anyone. There was no reason for that to be highlighted if we weren't supposed to believe that (at least in part) his tears were caused by the realization that someone in the world actually did care about him.

It's the overwhelming cynicism of the rest of the movie - especially the fact that the letters he wrote to the African boy were completely self-absorbed, and he didn't even expect the kid to ever read them - that makes the ending unexpected. And that's why it works.

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[–] AccidntlTourist 13 years ago

Schmidt returns after this odyssey - a last chance to redeem his life - a total failure.

Facing the last stage of his life; no true friends; no purpose in life; no meaningful relationship with his daughter (he hasn't gained a son-in-law, but lost a daughter); a failed father; a failed human being.

He comes home after this failed mission to find value in his life - he comes home to a big empty house; magnifying the emptiness of his life.

In that deepest loneliness, darkest - total despair, Schmidt confronts his mortality.
He tallies up his life and comes up with a big fat zero.
No one will remember him with loving fondness. It will be as if he never lived.

But, lying at the bottom of that absolute pit of despair - a sweet innocent child reaches out to him with loving kindness. And he cries.

Of course he cries over the loss of his wife, his daughter and his wasted life.
He cries because he comes in touch with his heart.
Bittersweet tears wash away the pain and offer hope that he may yet find meaning in life; may yet cut thru the barriers; the walls he has squandered his life building.

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[–] Solipsism77 13 years ago

Amen to that!
Best explanation I read. Also there is a little smile between the tears, relief and hope that is for me.

I don't buy the whole "realizing that he has and is nothing" thing.
I don't believe that that is what they intended to show.

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[–] SStevo165 15 years ago

The best way to view this ending is to see the movie in terms of what it might easily have been titled: "From Ndugu, With Love and Squalor". It was uncanny- the spirit and feeling of the ending was exactly the same- a broken, frightened man pulled from the brink of despair by the pure innocence and spirit of a child, by way of a letter. You take a really tired retired insurance man, and he always stands a chance of again becoming a man with all his fac- with all his F-A-C-U-L-T-I-E-S intact....

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[–] Real_Skier 13 years ago

Doesn't he smile a little in the last shot? I feel that shows he is happy he has finally helped someone. But I agree with those who say he realizes he has no-one, since he cries just before.

But at least Ndugu's drawing gives him a little bit of hope

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[–] NiiB 13 years ago

The art depicted that there was someone(which he now considered precious from his wife's experience, even when he'd not met the kid) his own left behind and he'd made a difference to someone just by being their which he could not accomplish with his daughter. He was fulfilled.

The scene just clubbed the whole movie into a conclusion.

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[–] jozielee 13 years ago

All these posts are remarkably thoughtful, and helped me to flesh out my own internal musings about the ending. One thing we missed . . . Indugu had an eye problem, which was cured because of the money Schmidt sent. Indugu was also very young . . . he could not read or write, which is why he drew the picture. So I saw Schmidt's laughter and tears as a sign that he knew Indugu had never read the bitterness or pain in his letters. He wasn't tainted by Schmidt's negativity. Indugu's life had been changed by the unselfish act of one person, a stranger, no matter the reason, and Indugu felt Schmidt's kindness and love . . . nothing more.

Perhaps Schmidt's laughter and tears signaled a new beginning. Washing away of the old self and one small link (holding hands in the drawing) with one other human being. A new beginning.

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[–] rovieb 12 years ago

I think the whole movie is about coming to terms with our own relevant insignifigance. Somewhere in the movie he says something about when all of those that know you and those that know them are dead , it is like you never existed. That is true in that only a small group of people are so great as to be remembered for longer than that. Our ego says we are the greatest but that just is not true. We are only great to those that will remember us. He did not feel needed or that he would be remembered, much like most of us will be.

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[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

SPOILERS for About Schmidt and Sideways

The maker of About Schmidt (2002), made Sideways two years later in 2004 and I think the films helped establish his "auteur" credentials: tone, pace, point of view(deadpan, patient) and a mix of strengths and weaknesses. The weaknesses stem from the way his films seem to mix broad characters and comedy into a more realistic mix(such as the weird, doofus brother to the groom in Schmidt), and -- very importantly -- from the fact that his films sure seem to take a snobbish pleasure in making fun of Middle American and Middle American "types." (Randall and his family in "Schmidt" and -- to jump a few movies -- Bruce Dern and his family on all sides in "Nebraska.") As with most very good filmmakers, I don't think you can conclusively "decide" on exactly what Payne's movies mean, and what his viewpoint IS. (Payne is from Nebraska and if he believes these people are "right" -- he can't feel like he is condescending.)

Which brings me to the endings of "Schmidt" and "Sideways," one right after the other.

There's not much I can add to the smart comments about the ending of "Schmidt" other than to say I agree with a lot of them. Though for most of the movie, Schmidt's letters to Ndugo are ridiculously "unreal" (as when Schmidt writes, "you should give serious thought to pledging a fraternity when the time comes")...he HAS been reaching out, and Ndugo ends up "reaching back" with his little drawing. Is this a happy ending? Is Schmidt "saved"? Or is the delusion complete...a meaningless life at its meaningless final end years. I don't think the film is clear.

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[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

"Sideways" ends only after its protagonist, Miles, seems to have hit rock bottom: drinking his most precious bottle of wine in a fast food place; aware that the wife who left him is successfully, married and pregnant and he is alone and unloved.

And then he gets a letter -- via lovely voiceover -- from the beautiful Santa Barbara area waitress who once loved him but rejected him -- not for his looks or his problems, but because he lied about his friend's cheating ways -- and she is interested in finally seeing him again. The movie ends with Miles knocking at the waitress's door -- but we don't see what happens next. The end.

The "Sideways" ending is even more ambiguous than the "About Schmidt" ending(hell,its the "Sopranos" ending, isn't it?)...but we can figure the waitress will be there, and will open the door and that Miles has at least a CHANCE at some sort of relationship.

But here's something I think about the "Sideways" ending: the waitress writes and offers a reconciliation because...she read Miles' unpublished novel manuscript, and it moved her with its autobiographical elements about Miles himself. And to me, that's sort of "the moral of the story": Miles could never sell that book for publication, but it is a good thing he wrote it....because the WAITRESS read it and the book changed her mind about Miles.

Everything is worth doing...and what it WILL get you is sometimes a surprise. Miles writing that book. Schmidt writing those letters to Ndgugo.

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[–] 12 years ago

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