***1/2
Nicholson's best performance in a long time. This is a great movie, both funny and tragic, Alaxander Payne really knows how to create characters are that are both funny and someone that you geniunely feel sorry for, the movie is about a widowed, retired actuary who goes on a cross country road trip to stop his daughter from marrying a redneck waterbed salesmen, Kathy Bates is a scene steller as the mother of Schmidt's future son in law who has certain "needs".
The acting is good all around, Nicholson and Bates especially, but Hope Davis is also good as Schmidt's daugher, and Dermot Mulroney as his future son and law who tries his best to bond with Schmidt.
I love Payne's style of editing and cinematography, like Election the sight gags is where a lot of the humor comes from, the one scene that always gets me is the wedding scene when Schmidt is giving a speech and he's talking about one of his son in laws and how he's a "very thoughtful young man" and then you get a cutaway to the guy.
I won't spoil much for those that haven't seen it but if you enjoyed Election and Sideways then this one is definetely on par.