Alexander Payne's look at an ordinary man's late-life crisis lacks the sharp satiric kick of his earlier efforts, but is marked by knowing observations about the Midwestern middle class and a ...

(indieWIRE/05.23.02) — With their pitch-dark comedies “Citizen Ruth” and “Election,” writer-director Alexander Payne and co-writer Jim Taylor emerged as premiere satirists of the American scene –acute ...

The pleasures of "About Schmidt" are what might be called Midwestern pleasures: a sly sense of humor, sturdiness, self-discipline, solidarity. It might be the most Midwestern movie ever made. Directed ...