About Schmidt

Warren Schmidt is retiring from his position as an actuary with Woodmen of the World, a life insurance company in Omaha, Nebraska. He looks with depression at the clock in his office and waits until exactly five to leave with no fanfare. He attends a paint by the numbers retirement dinner where people give generic remarks and empty well wishes. During the dinner, he ducks out and heads to the bar alone, finding it hard to adjust to his new life, feeling useless. Schmidt sees a television advertisement about a foster program for African children, Childreach, and decides to sponsor a child. He soon receives an information package with a photo of his foster child, a small Tanzanian boy named Ndugu Umbo, to whom he relates his life in a series of letters. Schmidt visits his young successor at the life insurance company to offer his help, but he is politely declined. As he leaves the building, he sees the contents and files of his office set out for the garbage. He describes to Ndugu his resentment towards his successor, implying that he was forced into retirement against his will. He describes to Ndugu his longtime alienation from Helen, his wife, who dies from a blood clot in her brain just after their purchase of a Winnebago Adventurer motor home. Jeannie, their daughter, and her fiancé, Randall Hertzel, a waterbed salesman, arrive from Denver. Consoling him at the funeral, she later berates him for taking his wife for granted, refusing to fully pay for the Winnebago, and getting her a cheap casket. He asks her to move back to take care of him, but she refuses. Meanwhile, Randall tries to rope him into a pyramid scheme. Schmidt feels that his daughter could do better than Randall. After they leave, he is overcome by loneliness. When he discovers hidden love letters disclosing Helen's long-ago affair with Ray, a mutual friend, Schmidt collects all her possessions and dumps them next to a clothing donations bin. He then confronts Ray for his betrayal. Deciding to take a journey in the new Winnebago to visit his daughter and convince her not to marry Randall, he tells her he is coming early for the wedding. She makes it clear she does not want him there until right before the ceremony, so Schmidt visits places from his past including his college (University of Kansas), his childhood home (now a tire store) and other museums and points of interest. At a trailer campground, he is invited to dinner by a friendly and sympathetic couple, John and Vicki Rusk. When John goes for beer, Schmidt makes a pass at Vicki, who tells him to leave. He attempts to call Ray and repair their relationship, but his voicemail is deleted during the call and he decides to let it go. Sitting on the roof of his RV on a starry night, Schmidt forgives his departed wife for her affair, apologizing to her for his own failings. At that moment, he is amazed to see a meteor streak across the sky, taking it as a possible sign from Helen. Feeling full of purpose and energetic renewal, Schmidt arrives in Denver, where he stays at the home of Roberta, Randall's mother. He is appalled by her eccentric, lower-middle-class family and cannot dissuade Jeannie from the marriage. Schmidt throws out his back after sleeping on Randall's waterbed, infuriating Jeannie. Roberta assures him that a soak in her hot tub will help his back, but he flees after she makes a pass at him in the tub. The next day, Schmidt, exhausted from a restless night, attends the wedding and delivers a kind speech at the reception, hiding his disapproval. On his way home, Schmidt composes a letter to Ndugu. He questions his life's accomplishments, lamenting that he will soon be dead, that his life has made no difference to anyone, and that eventually it will be as if he has never existed. A pile of mail is waiting for him at home. Schmidt opens a letter from Tanzania. It is from a nun, who writes that Ndugu is six and unable to read and reply to Schmidt's letters on his own but appreciates them and Schmidt's financial support. An enclosed crayon drawing, of Ndugu and Schmidt holding hands on a sunny day, moves Schmidt to tears.

Plot from About SchmidtCC BY-SA 4.0