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Reviews
King of the Corner (2004)
About Spivak
Main character Leo Spivak (Peter Riegert) is having a mid-life crisis in 'King of the Corner" a movie adapted from Gerald Shapiro's book, "Bad Jews and Other Stories." His ennui-ridden life seems lifted from "About Schmidt" and "Glengarry Glen Ross."
Now an aging salesman teetering on the tightrope of corporate America - Spivak momentarily looks down. His life tumbles into a free fall after that- His young pup sales trainee (played aptly by Jake Hoffman, Dustin Hoffman's son) nips at his heels. He and his wife (Isabella Rossellini) are no longer carnally or emotionally engaged. His teenage daughter doesn't respect him and his cantankerous old dad (Eli Wallach) delights in poking holes in his already cellophane-thin self-esteem. Leo doesn't buy a red sports car to support his trussed-up emotions- he has an affair and scratches the surface of a proverbial seven-year-itch. There isn't enough Goldbond Medicated Powder to salve his fractured libido-but a traumatic event late in the movie seems to jostle him back to earth- into the relatively safe orbit of his dysfunctional family.
The working title of the movie was, "The Pursuit of Happiness."
Spivak comes close to that at the end of the film. ----
I found the movie poignant and funny. The dialogue was superb and the cast was a who's who of great actors-Rita Moreno, Eric Bogosian, Beverly d'Angelo and the aforementioned Wallach, Rossellini and Riegert. This film was shot in 20 days on a modest budget. There were times when I thought the character development was a little thin and the pacing of the film a little slow. Riegert directed and starred in the movie and was present at the March 5 world premiere in Lincoln, Nebraska at the Ross Theater. Shapiro is an English professor at the University of Nebraska.
About Schmidt (2002)
A slow moving journey about loneliness and isolation.
"About Schmidt" is director Alexander Payne's third in a trilogy of films he's shot in his hometown, Omaha, Nebraska. "Citizen Ruth" and "Election" were the first two.
"Schmidt" is a study of the loneliness and isolation of a retired actuary named Warren Schmidt played brilliantly by Jack Nicholson. Schmidt's life has passed him by. His salvation is trying to reconnect with his alienated daughter after the death of his wife.
The film's cinematography captures the grayness of Schmidt's life. We see the Midwest as a flat, rolling surface-a blank canvas for Schmidt's empty existence.
"Schmidt" is a regionalist masterpiece like the Coen brothers' "Fargo" and 'O Brother Where Art Thou." Payne's humor is a bit different, less dark. He's more tweaking and loving of his subject matter and his origins.
Kathy Bates, Hope Davis, and Dermot Mulroney are part of the fantastic supporting cast. Even the hairstylist in this flick should see an Oscar nomination. Nicholson's combover and Mulroney's mullet alone are worth the price of admission.