Jordan Golden
Lori Farney
LBST 1102
April 24, 2014
Film Analysis Paper
About Schmidt is a comedy-drama film starring Jack Nicholson as the main character, Warren Schmidt. It chronicles as the character deals with a number of issues that arise during the late stages of one’s life. The film analyzes several topics such as marriage, widowhood, and retirement in such a way that it captures and entertains the viewer’s attention. There are several light hearted comedic moments in the film that, while viewing it in class, caused the audience to burst into a roar of laughter. However, the film has a matching share of somber scenes where the audience was quiet and tense. Well known actors such as Jack Nicholson and Kathy Bates with the help of a great script give an outstanding performance that helped make the film flow especially well. There was no doubt when selecting the film About Schmidt when writing my final analysis paper. It truly is an exceptional film.
When evaluating a film, it is especially important to review the role of the themes. Themes are “the central characteristic, idea, concern or motif in a film”. In the case of About Schmidt, the major themes in the film are marriage, retirement, and widowhood. These themes are seen throughout the film. For example, the film opens as Warren Schmidt is at a retirement dinner. Throughout the film, the viewer witnesses how being new to retirement has an effect on Schmidt. The next theme, widowhood also has a strong prevalence in the film. Shortly after the film begins, Schmidt returns home after running errands to find out that his wife Helen, has sadly passed away. This has a major effect on Schmidt, and the film reflects on that as Schmidt goes through phases of grief and seeks t...
... middle of paper ...
...ct that Schmidt was writing to his “foster child”, a small Tanzanian boy named Ndugu Umbo. Throughout the film, Schmidt writes letters to the boy, and often writes the letters in a manner so that the boy can more easily understand the American culture. There are obviously various different types of American subcultures; however, the one that Schmidt most easily represents is that of a Midwest suburban culture. It reflects a typical family structure with a mother and father, the father being the one who brings in a majority of the income; retiring once you reach a certain age, etc. The film also has a few minor historical influences such as the instances where Schmidt reflects on his college days and you see pictures from his fraternity house, and also when he goes and visits his childhood home; however it is never shown because it has been replaced by a tire shop.
Ken Kesey's award-winning novel, "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest", was adapted into a film in 1975 written and directed by New York City native Bo Goldman and Czech director Milos Forman. Towards the end of the novel and film, Chief Bromden escapes from the ward. This scene is conveyed differently in the novel and film; however, there are evident similarities between each form of media. This scene is important to the plot because it wraps up the entire storyline. In the film and novel, similarities within Chief Bromden’s escape from the ward include the way Chief escaped, how he couldn't hear anyone in the ward due to being deaf, and how McMurphy assisted Bromden with gaining his confidence to lift the panel and throw it through the window. McMurphy essentially changed Bromden to help him break out of the asylum and back into the real world.
The Singularity. It sounds like a cheesy eighties sci-fi flick starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carrie Fisher, complete with one-liners and a cult following that survives till this day. However unfortunate it may be, that’s not what the Singularity refers to. It refers to the greatest paradigm shift in humanity’s history, and it would alter our understanding of the Earth in an unimaginable way. It refers to the point in time where Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become so intelligent that they will out perform humanity and gain new knowledge at an exponential rate.
Is it better to be an individual or conform to expectations just to fit in like others? This choice is faced by Ponyboy Curtis, the narrator, throughout S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. He belongs to the Greasers, a group of delinquent friends, who are viewed by many as poor and dangerous, while the rival Socs are viewed as rich, smart, and powerful causing the Greasers to envy them. Ponyboy learns from Randy Adderson, a Soc who is trapped by stereotype threat, that their lives are not as perfect as he expected it to be and they too face problems. In addition, Ponyboy tries to act tough and fit in with the rest of gang, but his Greaser companions, such as Two-Bit Matthews, teach him to embrace his own characteristics which sets him apart from
The movie is all about the Joad family and their pursuit to find the American dream. They are a very poor family who lives during the great depression. They decide to leave their home that gets demolished and move to California in order to hopefully get some work, make some money, and eventually one day own land of their own again. The main themes of this movie were the pursuit of the American dream, and how it can be completely different depending on the people. The Joad family when compared to Jay Gatsby or The Buchanan family. They did not want everything, they just wanted to be fed and have a place to call their
...board table next to the nickelodeon...” (O'Connor 967), a “Jukebox” (Pickering fn.4, 967) which were popular in the nineteen fifties. Another example that lets the reader the know that the story takes place during the nineteen fifties is when the family sees a black child without any jeans on, and the grandmother says, “Little niggers in the country don't have things like we do” (O'Connor 965). The setting relates to the central idea because the story takes place in a time where society rejected religious and social value changes due to the lack of understanding and the unknown outcome of the changes.
Amy Heckerling’s movie Clueless focuses on an upper middle class 16-year-old girl, Cher, who lives in a nice neighborhood with her father and stepbrother, Josh. Cher and her friend, Dionne, take in a new girl, Tai, to help her fit into their high school. All of the major characters in the movie are in adolescence, which ranges from 10-19 years of age. In adolescence, teenagers undergo cognitive and emotional development. According to Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory, adolescents are in formal operational period from 11-20 years of age. During this period, adolescents develop abstract thinking and rational decision making. They experience two aspects of adolescent egocentrism, imaginary audience
The book “The Outsiders” talks about two gangs and how they interact. “The Outsiders” is a book about Socs and Greasers. The story was written by S.E. Hinton, a person who hid her name because of gender. Further more, Hinton wrote the story about her person experience being between two gangs like the Greasers and Socs. Lastly, “The Outsiders” is told by Ponyboy Curtis, a Greaser, the main character of the story. There are two main themes in the story, “The Outsiders” which focus on the Greasers and the Socs and their differences in appearance and how they use violence to settle disagreements.
John Singleton’s view of social problems in South Central Los Angeles happens in a tale of three friends growing up together. Doughboy and Ricky Baker are half-brothers and have opposite personalities. Ricky is a football player who hopes to win a scholarship and spends most of his time playing football. On the other hand, Doughboy is a young man who looks upon his environment for guidance. He is involved in violence, abusing drugs, and participates in violence. In between is their friend Tre, who actually has a father to teach him what is right from wrong. Furious Styles, who is Tre’s father in the film does everything in his strength to keep his son from becoming another startling statistic. As you can see, it is always important for parents to be a part of their child’s life because it can make a big difference not only in their life but also their child’s future.
Another theme is the ability of a person to have some dignity even when it feels like the world is against you. These themes remain important today because it teaches us what can happen to a person if their dreams are never fulfilled. For example, Walter had a dream to open a liquor store, however this dream never came true after Willy (the person Walter gave the money too to open the store) betrayed him. He broke down and felt hopeless. It also teaches us that dignity is important, Walter also portrayed his need for dignity after he rejects the offer of Mr. Linder from the“home improvement
The first theme uncovered in the movie is isolation, this theme is present throughout the entire movie. The viewer is introduced to the main character and narrator of the movie, whose name we are never told. By not providing his name this gives us the idea that he represents the average working class male. He never speaks of any family members,
One of the more prevalent themes of this movie is racism, and how prejudicial mindsets ultimately lead to one’s own demise. The movie outlines how racism, among other things, can adversely affect someone’s judgment. After the father died, we see how the family gradually deteriorates financially as well as emotionally after Derek (the older brother played by Edward Norton) turns to a neo Nazi gang for an outlet, which eventually influences his younger brother Danny (played by Edward Furlong) to follow down ...
When deciding what movie to do for this particular paper I faced a few issues. I knew what the requirements were, but I wanted something different and something I could have fun watching and writing as well. So, after looking around and pondering movies for weeks I finally decided on a perfect choice The 60’s directed by Mark Piznarski?
...the predominant theme of disorientation and lack of understanding throughout the film. The audience is never clear of if the scene happening is authentic or if there is a false reality.
Clint Eastwood’s film “Gran Torino” traces the end of the life of Walt Kowalski. He has recently gone through a lot – the death of his beloved wife, his distant relationship with his son, his emotional scars from the Korean War and his bad health. All these things stop him from living a proper life. He doesn’t care about himself much – he smokes even though he is sick, he doesn’t eat a lot, he refuses to confess even though that was his wife’s last wish. However, all this changes when he meets the Hmong Family that lives next door. At the beginning he detests them because of their similarity to the Koreans, but later, as he gets to know them, they become the family that he was never able to have. The story traces the psychological changes in Walt’s character due to his unusual bond with the Hmong family, which changes are one of the main strengths of the film.
The first concept important to me that I learned after watching the film is the main theme for the film. I believe the main theme of the film