Johnnieb-2

The mini-series deserves a minus number but you don't offer it. If it had not been for Jack Nicholson, both Shinings would have tanked. He is the master, rising far above scriptwriters, directors and other cast members. The original "Shining" was a terrific, suspense- and horror-filled flick that can challenge the best of its genre. The mini-series left me wondering when the punchlines would pop up. The series also was miscast and the direction was simply missing. What also bothered me were the negative remarks about the original "Shining" cast by the mini-series crew. Not only were the remarks in bad taste but they were untrue. In all, Nicholson remains my idol but I do miss Webber on "Wings."

When we were in junior high school, some of us boys would occasionally set off stinkbombs. It was considered funny then. But the producers, directors and cast of "Semana Santa" ("Angel of Death" in the DVD section of your local video rental) are adults and they are STILL setting them off.

Like the previous reviewer who wondered if the cast were anxious to get off the set and home, I doubt more than one take was done for any of the scenes.

Mira Sorvino, hot in "Mighty Aphrodite" and other top-rated films, seems to have undersold herself to this project. Her acting is non-existent, confined mostly to wistful stares that are supposed to indicate how "sensitive" she is to the plight of the film's various victims.

But let me warn you--do not be the next victim! Step away from the DVD if you find it on the shelf. Tbere are not many good leg shots of Mira (the only high points I could find in the film) and the supporting cast is of inferior quality, delivering a mishmash of badly-done dialogue with embarrassing "Spanish" accents worthy of the best high school theatrical production.

Jack Nicholson is a master craftsman. From "The Shining" to "Hoffa," "As Good As It Gets," and "About Schmidt," his voice, diction and body language capture the essence of the people he becomes on screen.

It would be too easy to dismiss "About Schmidt" as something that skips over life's surface without digging deep. But Nicholson's Warren Schmidt is a mid-westerner whose Nordic ancestry and upbringing make him stand out from the usual fare among American movies.

Schmidt is unable to express his feelings about life, marriage, friendship, job, the futility and worthlessness of his existence--until he by accident becomes a pen-pal and "foster parent" for a black child he has never met and whose life he cannot hope to understand.

In his letters to the child, the audience is able by eavesdropping to look inside Schmidt and see what he loves, fears, resents. The letters are but a vehicle for the character and a powerful one, especially at the closing moments of the film.

I like Nicholson, and believe he is one of the powerful male actors who get better with age, so it is natural that I rate this a 10. It doesn't get any better than this.