boring?

im a little shocked this movie has an average rating of 7.3 on imdb. i really dont think since 39,000 people voted that it should have a rating higher than a 6.8. come one now. are we putting this movie in the same rating as......nevermind. look up some of the great movies that have gotten a lesser rating that this. im a huge nicholson fan, but 7.3 is a wee tad too high

im a little shocked this movie has an average rating of 7.3 on imdb. i really dont think since 39,000 people voted that it should have a rating higher than a 6.8. come one now. let me give an example of why this movie rating is too high. check out LETHAL WEAPON... rating is 7.4. i think we can all agree that that movie is very entertaining. about schmidt is only 0.1 point worse??? im thinking that 7.3 is a wee tad too high and im a huge nicholson fan

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I guess that to, at least, some of us here, a human being is far more interesting and important than a paper bag. But obviously you don’t agree on that. Fine with me – to each his/her own!

BTW, that paper bag sequence in American Beauty is really good – nice filming and a brim with fascinating symbolic value. AB, like AS is IMHO a great piece of cinematic art.

"Why is it that men are so much more interested in women than women in men?"
Virginia Woolf

Some people relate to "Lots of stuff happening", some relate to human emotion.

Beautifully filmed and acted; the characters are very well observed. However, a film really needs a bit more of a plot in order to achieve anything. Even Jack Nicholson's superb performance is not enough to save this forgettable piece for me.

There are other films that deal with pointlessness and wasted lives without being quite so slow. Also, while the characterisation is well observed, it feels cold and callous. The film has no love for its characters, but mocks them all from an equal distance. I could not feel emotionally involved with any of them. The put-upon daughter came closest.

I consider this to be Jack Nicholson's greatest performance. He's already won the Oscar three times (for Cuckoo's Nest, Terms of Endearment and As Good as it Gets). Had he not won in 1997 for As Good...., he would have won for this movie.

This movie proves that Jack Nicholson can play a character. This is not The Shining Jack, or Witches of Eastwick Jack, or Batman Jack. It's not even The Departed Jack. This Jack shows up occasionally (other atypical Jack roles can be found in "The Pledge," "Prizzi's Honor" and "King of Marvin Gardens") and is amazing every time.

And the movie is not boring. Alexander Payne's movies are about real life issues and relationships. I love movies like Batman Begins and Die Hard too, but every now and then I need to see a movie about real people.

I didn't find it boring, I found it frustrating!

I just kept on thinking that something interesting must happen soon...but it didn't, it was just about an old man with a rubbish life and a big van.

The only thing I liked about it was how they managed to keep all the interiors in a 1960's-time warp.

Especially contrasted to the overblown cartoonish evil Leprachaun he played in the Departed. But everything about that film was silly and wrong (even though I'm a huge Scorsese fan also)

Right! I thought I was the only person who disliked The Departed so much (other than the older lady who sat next to me and walked out in disgust).
Everything about that movie rang false. Including Nicholson's throwback to his devil character in Witches of Eastwick. At least that movie was a black comedy.

Human Beings...Wow