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"But
as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to
accomplish, it was all so meaningless.
It was like chasing the wind. There was nothing really
worthwhile anywhere."
Ecclesiastes 2:11
Insights:
The
Title
The
title, About Schmidt, says it all. Yes, this is
a movie about a man named Schmidt, but more than that,
Warren Schmidt is a man all about himself. This film
is simply the story of one lost man and his deliverance from
the tower of self.
The
Tower
The
first scenes set the stage for the story that follows.
The opening camera shot is of a mid-size American city,
which could be almost anywhere. That is the point; this is
"every man's" town. As the camera moves in,
it focuses on one dominant tower, capturing it from
different angles - especially from the bottom looking up.
This is the Woodmen Life Insurance Building, and its name
has been carefully selected. The implication being
that to insure one's life, this is the tower you must climb,
and by the time you get to the top, you will have become a
"wood-man."
This
is exactly what the next scene reveals as the camera moves
inside1
to find Warren Schmidt sitting like a bump on a log in his
empty office, silently waiting for the end of his career
(life). The next few scenes reveal that Warren's life
is as empty as his office. With his dreams and
passions long gone, all he has left is a dead marriage and a
superficial relationship with his only child. The
journey to the room at the top has led only to discarded
boxes at the bottom, a powerful metaphor for the man
himself. At his retirement dinner, a picture of a
prize bull is juxtaposed with Schmidt's own portrait. Herein
lies the subtle theme of the move, "A man without life2
is nothing more than a beast of the field."
The
Television
God
will go to any length to reach an empty, lost man like
Warren Schmidt. So, it is no surprise that He uses an
orphan child in Tanzania to open the door to Warren's
heart. Channel surfing, Warren stumbles across a
television promotion for "Child Reach".
Again, the name has a double meaning. Warren believes
that by sending in his $22 per month, he will save Ndugu
Umbo from disease, dysentery, and death. However, it
will be this child that reaches Warren and touches him with
unconditional love.
The
letters that Warren begins to write to Ndugu are like a
breach in a dam, slowly releasing the pent up waters of
Warren Schmidt's life. The first letter reveals that
Warren is no different than any other person. As a
child he believed he was special, had a destiny, and was
meant to be significant3.
Somewhere all of that was lost, and he became just like a
head of cattle, just a part of the herd.
The
Trial
Once
a dam is breached, whole chunks start to break away.
This happens to Warren when his wife, Helen, suddenly
dies. The cattle motif is subtly inserted at her
funeral, when Warren looks up and sees a cattle trailer
being hosed down. Leaving his wife and his mixed
emotions about her behind him, Warren now shifts to his only
daughter, Jeanie. Still lost in himself, he is
searching for someone to cling to.
The
Trip
Rebuffed
by Jeanie, Warren makes a detour from his trip to
Colorado. He decides to take a "road trip"
back in time. Visiting his first home on Locust
Avenue, he hears the happy voices of childhood. Moving
onto his college fraternity, he finds his old composite
picture; it is a picture of life before the fall.
Through these scenes his heart is steadily being
softened. Now, he talks with people (the Indian)4
and
even buys the Hummels, which he so recently mocked.
All
of this is the preparation for the real surgery that must be
done on his heart. The sins of anger, fear, and
unforgiveness must be dealt with. The surgical scalpel
is given to Vicki Rusk in the motor home scene. It is
important to notice the contrast of the two motor homes that
precede this scene. It is a contrast of two very
different lives. Warren's motor home is the super
deluxe model, but it is cold, dark, and empty. John
Rusk's smaller home is warm, cozy, and filled with
light. The Rusk's are on an adventure together; they
have intimacy, they have life, and they have family.
Warren who doesn't even have a wallet photo of Jeanie, is
more like the lonely cattle he has passed on the road,
silently peering out of their trailers while on their way to
the slaughterhouse. It is no wonder that Vicki Rusk
can see through the grief and despair to an angry, fearful,
and lonely heart.
The
Transformation
The
scene that follows Warren's ejection from the Rusk motor
home is the very heart of the film. Fleeing and
overcome with truth, Warren has to pull over his motor
home. Notice how he walks to an unpaved road and then
bends over. This is a place he has never traveled to
before, the uncharted land of soul searching (phone call to
Ray) and forgiveness (to Helen). Sitting on top of
this motor home that night, it is as if he has entered a
sanctuary. Before him is a small altar with three
candles5
and four Hummels. Warren is broken, humble, and
seeking forgiveness. The shooting star is the answer
to his question6
and he receives it by faith (crossing himself). His
next letter to Ndugu tells how he woke from his night in the
wilderness a new man. Having had his epiphany, he sets
out to "save" his daughter.
The
Truth
The
truth is that, "The wages of sin is death (Romans
6:23). Warren will not be able to save Jeanie in
any sense of the word. Jeanie has grown up to become
just like her parents - angry, fearful, lonely,
bitter. Her father's sudden interest in her life is
too little too late. The final cattle picture seems to
underscore this - a giant piece of fattened beef being
carved at her wedding reception.
On
his way home, Warren muses in another letter to Ndugu that
his own journey seems very insignificant when compared to
others. Still seeing things from a worldly
perspective, Warren returns home, weak and defeated. He
still struggles with one question, "What difference has
my life made?".
The
answer comes not from the world or from his family, but from
a six-year old orphan in Tanzania. Now, it is Warren's
turn to receive a letter. Too young to read or write,
Ndugu has painted Warren a picture. The stick figures
holding hands under the bright sun convey with childish
simplicity the message, "You are loved; your life has
made a difference." The movie ends; Warren Schmidt's empty
heart is now filled with joy.
Scripture:
Matthew
18:1-6
Notes:
1.
The building
is a metaphor for the man. When the camera moves
inside, the office becomes a picture of his
heart.
2. The New Testament has
two words that refer to "life": Bios
which is the body and soul in union which
produces natural life, and Zoë which is the soul/spirit in union with God which
produces eternal life
(John
1:1-5). Warren has Bios, but not Zoë.
3. In Genesis
1:26, God gives human kind dominion over the zoological
kingdom. In other words, human beings
had great significance, as they
were created to govern the earth. All of this was lost in
"The Fall"
(Genesis
3), but we still retain a memory of Eden.
4. In contrast to how silent
Warren was in the beginning.
5. Three lights for the Trinity.
6. He is asking forgiveness from
Helen, but ultimately from God.
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