I found it very difficult to tell whether About Schmidt cheered me up or brought me down. I don't think that final shot is ironic, as some critics have suggested, but it represents a genuine moment where Schmidt is brought out of his solipsism. For all he failed to change the world as he saw it, his actions did have an influence on someone oout there.

The reason why I think the film was so effective was not so much because of a fear of aging - I'm 20 in May, so retirement isn't somethign I have much of an opinion on. It's about wanting to matter. One of the most touching and believable scenes for me was the opening one where Schmidt watched the last seconds of his working life tick away, then gathered up his papers and left. At any momentous event in my life - birthdays, first day at a new school, bereavement - I've always felt this quiet, sad part of me wondering why this doesn't feel as important as I'm always told it should. As culture becomes faster and more homogenized, more and more of us want to be important and want to make a difference, yet fewer and fewer of us seem to be able to do it.