2. About Schmidt - Kathy Bates Gets Her Kit Off
All the respect in the world to Kathy Bates; she is a fantastic actress, and gave a great performance in Alexander Payne's About Schmidt, one which nobody could question her commitment to given her readiness to disrobe for an utterly gratuitous scene mid-way through the movie. Bates' character Roberta joins Jack Nicholson's Warren Schmidt in the hot tub, while director Alexander Payne milks our anxiety at such a scenario, lingering on shots of her...generous body making its way into the tub. Obviously, the comedy of the scene stems from how Bates is middle-aged and out of shape, and how uncomfortable her nudity would make audiences used to seeing youthful, perfectly-sculpted bodies making passes at once another. Still, to describe the scene as merely uneasy would not be to do it justice; retina-searingly traumatic would be a better description, and Bates and Payne above all others seem to relish completely in this fact. Still, it paid off for Bates, who was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar, and Payne's movie meanwhile whipped up a storm at the box office.