Alexander Payne's Movies Ranked From Worst To Best

Definitely the most underrated of Payne's films. About Schmidt stars Jack Nicholson as Warren R. Schmidt, a recently retired widower who decides to get in his motor home and drive to his daughter's wedding across the country.

It followed a trend for Alexander Payne, who took seemingly boring people and made them quietly powerful. Schmidt is representative of the films Payne made in the late '90s and early '00s, in that they were more overtly funny and filled with more ostensible wit.

What also strikes you about the film is how Jack Nicholson dialled down his Jack Nicholson-ness to play a person so dull and normal that it stood as proof that Nicholson really was capable of leaving the madness at the door, rather than imbuing all his characters with the same unique brand of insanity.

Schmidt is funny, brutally honest, and at times devastating. Nicholson gave what might be his last really great performance in the film and it should be remembered for the final scene alone.

A masterpiece that will always go under the radar, which in some way represents Alexander Payne better than any of his other films.