MovieChat Forums > About Schmidt (2003) Discussion > What about the book?

What about the book?

posted 18 years ago by barrowa
7 replies | jump to latest

Having seen, and greatly enjoyed, the film, I bought Louis Begley's book. All it appears to share in common with the film is the title, the main protagonist's name and the theme of an aging, widowed father and his ingrate of a daughter. The film makes no mention of Schmidt's low grade anti-Semitism, an important theme in the book. In idle moments I wonder how much Louis Begley got for the film rights? Whatever he did, the book is a wonderful read, although Begley writes without using any quotation marks, making it difficult at times (deliberately so?) to know whether a character's utterances are internal or external, forcing one to read (and re-read) the text carefully.

[–] whitepaint 13 years ago

I watched the movie after having read the book and was surprised at how little they had in common. And, in my opinion, the book is much better than the film which is so packed with Hollywood cliches that it can't be saved from mediocrity even by the excellent performance from Jack Nicholson

[–] 13 years ago

[deleted]

[–] daddymo 13 years ago

I loved the book and was disappointed that the movie was nothing like it. However, if you liked the book also, Begley wrote a follow-up to the original, published in 2000, titled "Schmidt Delivered".

[–] Spubs 13 years ago

This is why I always read a book after watching the movie.

"In a mad world, only the mad are sane."
-Akira Kurosawa

[–] nutsberryfarm 13 years ago

thx. that could be good.

Silver Lining Accounting Service: "We satisfy or we eat it."

[–] appnzllr-1 11 years ago

I'm reading the book now. It bears little in common with the book. There is a guy with the last name Schmidt, but even his first name is not the same. He does have a daughter who doesn't respect him or show him any daughterly love. And Schmidt's wife dies before the book begins. But that's about it. The should have given the film a different name.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 11 years ago

Having seen, and greatly enjoyed, the film, I bought Louis Begley's book. All it appears to share in common with the film is the title, the main protagonist's name and the theme of an aging, widowed father and his ingrate of a daughter. The film makes no mention of Schmidt's low grade anti-Semitism, an important theme in the book.

As I said in another thread, I'm glad that they left this out of the film. There are so many moralizing tales out there about the evils of bigotry that About Schmidt didn't need to be one of them. The whole subject has been beaten to death several times over in film. Having a film that focuses on an aging retired widower's search for meaning in his life and the frustrations of dealing with a spoiled brat of a daughter made for a much more satisfying movie.

I am tempted to read the book out of curiosity, but I'm not expecting too much from it based on reviews and synopses.