MovieChat Forums > About Schmidt (2003) Discussion > What could Jeannie ever see in Randall?

What could Jeannie ever see in Randall?

posted 10 years ago by fwsauerteig
11 replies | jump to latest

I love this movie, but I feel the degree to which Randall's character is a loser beggars belief. A mullet with a badly thinning hairline, that ugly black vest with turquoise and purple trim that went of style in 1986, the pyramid schemes, the wall plastered with participation ribbons and awards for attendance at a two week vocational course in electronics.
Jeannie is not an unattractive woman. Women tend to be hypergamous in nature, and do not tend to pair downward. Randall is far less attractive, has a pedestrian retail job, and comes from a Bohemian lifestyle with far less than privilege than her father offered her.
There is a lot about this movie that is intriguing and realistic, with all kinds of wonderful attention to detail. But I feel the caricature of Randall is a bit on the nose.
What say YOU?

[–] lorenzb-2 8 years ago

Randell and his entire family were obnoxious. Warren's daughter was a perfect fit with them. If I was Warren there's no way I listen to her rants. But she and Randell were desperate and settled for each other realizing that's the best they were going to do. Warren had some smarts and class, and loved his daughter. But was also very disappointed in her and her terrible decisions in life. The irony of life is that most of the time people who are extreme loosers never seem to realize they are. In their own minds they're successful and "better" than most everyone else. But Warren saw reality mostly as it was, even though he tried to deceive himself too in certain ways.