I agree with those who find this movie totally unappealing, exceptionally overrated, and think Dave Durban's very smart review and description of what's happening with Jack Nicolson is right on target. Sure, the director is an original and worth watching, but so is Shyamalan, and that doesn't mean they're to be relied upon to turn out imperishable masterpieces. In this case the movie seems to appeal and push buttons for two demographic groups. The young find it a hilarious spoof and chortle at the insensitivity to New Agers and aging retired people and Middle Westerners, etc.; the old (unbelievably) find it a sensitive portrayal of the problems of the spouse-deprived no longer working male, adrift in his own twilight years -- with a few chuckles, to be sure.

This is one of those rare movies when you may feel like the rest of the audience is from another planet, and I felt quite alienated from both groups, unable to see anything to sympathize with but also alienated by the negativity and cruelty of the movie. The audience at the matinee I attended was predominantly older, and they were intent and worshipful, and only laughed out loud once or twice. Somehow Jack anchors both the young mocking and old sympathizing groups, satisfying both by really just walking through the role with his body and face doing the work of letting both groups identify or mock, as they choose.

Maybe this is why the movie has become so overrated: it pushes buttons for two completely separate groups with completely different reactions to the movie, and they all think Jack does a great job being Schmidt -- or just being Jack, as the case may be; and that certainly cuts both ways. For some he's just Jack; for others, who see a different movie, he's submerged in this Schmidt slob, whom they pity or sympathize with.

The trouble with the idea that Jack is submerged in Schmidt is that there is no Schmidt: the man's a cypher. The trouble with his being just Jack is that the character wasn't written for Jack, or if he was, it was a huge miscasting idea. And because the role really isn't a Jack Nicolson role, people think Jack's doing a great job of acting just being in it. But there's a difference between stretching and just being miscast.