‘About Schmidt’ deserved better at 2003 Oscars
A major 2003 Oscars contender two decades ago was Alexander Payne’s “About Schmidt,” starring Jack Nicholson, Kathy Bates, Hope Davis and Dermot Mulroney. It was Payne’s first film since 1999’s “Election,” which earned him and his writing partner Jim Taylor their breakthrough Oscar nominations, and it was Nicholson’s first major Oscar player since his third Best Actor win in 1998 for “As Good As It Gets.” In addition, Bates was going for her third Oscar nom after her Best Actress win for “Misery” in 1991 and Best Supporting Actress nomination for “Primary Colors” in 1999. Going into wide release on January 3, 2003, in 816 theaters, “About Schmidt” made more than eight million dollars in its opening weekend, an excellent $10,784 per screen, before earning a strong 105 million dollars worldwide by the end of its theatrical run.
“About Schmidt,” about a recently retired man (Nicholson) who embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding, only to discover more about himself and life than he ever expected, was loved by most of the nation’s critics. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle called it “a seriously good movie, a challenge to viewers, a rebuke of the way many Americans live their lives,” and Susan Stark of Detroit News said it’s “by turns hilarious and poignant, [a movie] about nothing special and everything important.” A critic at the time who might have loved it the most was Bill Muller of Arizona Republic, who wrote, “Each deft stroke of Payne’s pen is matched by a Nicholson flourish, transforming the film into a moving, bittersweet ballet.”
With glowing reviews, an awards-friendly cast and release date, poignant storytelling, and terrific box office, expectations were high that “About Schmidt” would be a huge player at the 75th Academy Awards. The film started strong at the beginning of the 2003 awards season 20 years ago, receiving five Golden Globe nominations — Best Motion Picture Drama, Best Actor in a Drama for Jack Nicholson, Best Supporting Actress for Kathy Bates, Best Director for Alexander Payne, and Best Screenplay for Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. In addition, Nicholson won Best Actor at both the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards (tying at the latter with Daniel Day-Lewis for “Gangs of New York”).
Many predicted “About Schmidt” to do well throughout awards season due to Nicholson’s long history with the Oscars going back to 1970, when he received his first nom in the Supporting Actor category for “Easy Rider.” Nicholson is, after all, the most Oscar-nominated male actor in history, with 12 notices to his name. His films for three decades often showed up at the Academy Awards in the acting, directing and picture categories—“Chinatown” in 1975, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1976, “Reds” in 1982, and “Terms of Endearment” in 1984. In the decade before “About Schmidt,” Nicholson was also nominated at the Oscars for “A Few Good Men” and “As Good As It Gets,” both films also getting into Best Picture. By the end of the 1990s, it appeared that Nicholson had the magic touch when it came to choosing awards-friendly dramas and comedies, and “About Schmidt” looked to be a major player, too.
However, after a solid showing at Golden Globes and Critics Choice, “About Schmidt” came up short on Oscar nominations morning, only making it into two categories — Best Actor for Nicholson and Best Supporting Actress for Bates. No Best Picture, no Best Director for Payne, no Best Screenplay even, which shocked me the most. Still, did “About Schmidt” have a shot at winning an Academy Award? Supporting Actress was unlikely for Bates since this was the season where Catherine Zeta-Jones swept in most of the major precursor ceremonies for “Chicago.” Bates’ best shot at a win was at the Golden Globes, where Zeta-Jones was nominated in Lead and not Supporting, but Meryl Streep took that award for “Adaptation.”
The greatest chance “About Schmidt” had at an Oscar win was in the Best Actor category for Jack Nicholson. If the film may have lost steam throughout the 2003 awards season, Nicholson never did, making it in at SAG and BAFTA before he received his record 12th Academy Award nomination. He won Best Actor at Golden Globes and Critics Choice, but he lost to Day-Lewis at both SAG and BAFTA. Nicholson’s chances seemed unlikely given he already had three Best Actor Oscars, but Day-Lewis didn’t have the Oscar in the bag either since he had won a Best Actor Oscar in 1990 for “My Left Foot.” With no clear consensus, one of the all-time stunning upsets of this category took place when Adrien Brody, who hadn’t won a single major precursor prize, took the Oscar for “The Pianist,” leaving Nicholson, Day-Lewis, and many others in the Kodak Theater cheering.
“About Schmidt” ultimately went home empty-handed at the 75th Academy Awards, but its director and cast quickly bounced back with other awarded projects. Nicholson played a supporting role in “The Departed,” which finally won Martin Scorsese an Oscar for Best Director. Bates won two Emmys in the 2010s for “American Horror Story: Coven" and "Two and a Half Men" and earned a fourth Oscar nomination in 2020 for the Clint Eastwood drama, “Richard Jewell.” Payne won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for both “Sideways” and “The Descendants,” and he’s received Best Director nominations for “Sideways,” “The Descendants” and “Nebraska.”
Although “About Schmidt” didn’t win any Academy Awards, it remains one of the most praised films of 2002 with an all-time great Jack Nicholson performance, a movie that Steven Rea of the Philadelphia Inquirer rightfully called, “a quiet, heart-rending masterpiece, one with an actors turn that people will remember, and rediscover, eons into the future.” Do you agree with me that "About Schmidt" deserved better at 2003 Oscars? Sound off down in the comments section.
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Jack Nicholson didn’t already have three best actor oscars, one of them was for supporting actor
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