在一家著名的保险公司工作了一辈子之后，施密特先生终于可以歇一歇了。但他却发现枯燥无聊的退休生活使他觉得自己是在混吃等死。妻子整日对他喋喋不休，独生女儿在择偶问题上不听劝阻，这些更使他心烦意乱。一天，在看电视时，施密特先生被一个救助非洲孤儿的慈善节目打动了。于是他决定认捐一个孤儿，每月给他22美元。不久他就收到了慈善机构寄来的一张坦桑尼亚六岁孤儿的照片，信中要求他要经常给这个孩子写信。渐渐地，他把自己的家庭琐事以及对生活的看法都倾注在信纸上，而这最终改变了他的孤独与悲观。

　　现在，大多数西方国家都进入了老龄社会，老年人在生活上的种种问题日益凸显出来。《关于施密特》对一位典型的中产阶级退休老人努力适应"新"生活的细腻真实的刻画引起了成千上万人的共鸣，并在2003年获得第75届奥斯卡奖的8项提名。老演员杰克·尼科尔森炉火纯青的演技更使人叹服不已，也许是他本人也渐已步入老人行列(生于1937年)的缘故吧。

　　Warren Schmidt has worked for a renowned

　　insurance company for decades. On the day of

　　his retirement, he is given a farewell dinner at which both young and old colleagues make speeches praising him for his contribution to the company. As for himself, he does not know what to say about the totally strange new retirement life ahead.

　　Feeling bored with his nagging wife, he spends a lot of time watching TV. One day, he happens to watch a charity<注1> program named "Child Reach" appealing to people to help the orphans in African countries. Touched by the poverty-stricken children on the screen, Warren dials the number of the organization immediately. A few days later, a letter with a child's photo arrives telling him that he is to be the foster father<注2> of a little child named Ndugu in Tanzania<注3>. He is also told that he needs to send a check of 22 to the organization each month and to correspond with the child from time to time. Hence he writes the first letter to Ndugu introducing to the boy himself and his family. Gradually he finds himself talking in his letter about his loneliness in retirement, irritation at his wife, and dislike of his future son-in-law. He isn't quite sure that the little child will be able to understand his complaints, but he mails it anyway.

　　Upon reaching home from the post office, Warren finds, to his horror, his wife Helen lying on the carpet, dead, with the vacuum cleaner still making loud noise beside her. After the funeral, Warren asks his daughter Jeannie to stay for a few more days, and even to postpone her wedding with her fianc? Randall so as to take care of him. Jeannie says she can't do that since everything is arranged and that the wedding date was picked by her mother Helen. She also complains that Warren chose the cheapest casket<注5> for Helen and suggests her father hire a maid to help out with daily living. At the airport, Warren sadly sees them off, tears in eyes.

　　Left alone all to himself, and grieved over the loss of his wife, Warren now misses Helen all the more. However, when he sorts out Helen's stuff, Warren discovers some love letters to Helen from his best friend Ray Nichols who has been working in the same company. Shocked and outraged, Warren throws away all of Helen's stuff. Then he finds Ray and asks him to account for those letters. Ray begs him for understanding and forgiveness as it happened 25 or 30 years ago. unable to control his anger, Warren decides to leave home and visit his daughter for a change. Calling Jeannie on his way, however, he is told not to come until a day or two before the wedding since both groom and bride<注6> are too busy to look after him.

　　Unwilling to turn back home, a boring and heart-breaking place, Warren embarks on<注7> a touring journey for those places that he never had time to visit during decades of hard work. He first goes to the house in which he was born and brought up. It is a tire shop now, but he enjoys talking to the young salesman recollecting his childhood in the house and neighborhood. Next, he visits his Alma Mater<注8> Kansas University and recalls his good old days in his old fraternity<注9> with some young students, which really refreshes his spirit. Then he tours a historical museum back in Nebraska to learn with interest the history of the American Indians<注10>. He has a nice chat with an Indian, which really opens his eyes. Now he begins to enjoy this random<注11> journey.

　　Stopping at a camping place, Warren gets acquainted with a middle-aged couple on a similar journey in their trailer<注12>. They invite him over to their big van for a dinner and they have a nice chat. When the husband goes for some more beer, the wife, a psychiatrist<注13>, says that she can guess Warren's mind and tells him that he is a sad, and lonely, and even angry man. Warren is touched because the woman apparently understands him more than Helen had ever done all her life. He cannot help embracing and kissing her for understanding and comfort. But the woman pushes him away accusing him of taking advantage of the situation. Ashamed of his behavior, Warren flees immediately. He parks his trailer at a lakeside and meditates1<注4> over his relationship with Helen and eventually forgives her.

　　Waking up in the morning, Warren makes up his mind to go to Denver to stop Jeannie and Randall's wedding. He is welcomed by Randall's mother Roberta, a twice-divorced lady. She tells Warren that Randall is a very nice and understanding kid of hers and she is sure that his union with Jeannie will be a happy one. However, at the dinner table attended by Randall's father Larry, Warren deepens a dislike of this family's working class vulgarity<注15>. Before Jeannie and Randall leave for their home, Warren gets a chance to talk to Jeannie and tries to convince her that she's marrying a wrong guy without any future. Jeannie is unhappy about her father's prejudice against Randall and solemnly requests him to either attend the wedding and support her the next day or turn back to go home the very night. Warren is speechless and can do nothing about the wedding.

　　Warren chooses to stay. At the wedding dinner, he is asked to make a speech as the father of the bride. Jeannie looks at him nervously fearing that Warren might embarrass the people present by saying something inappropriate. To her relief, Warren thanks Randall and his family for the hospitality<注16> to accommodate him and gives his blessings to Randall and Jeannie. After the speech, Warren staggers<注17> into the rest room and can't help feeling strongly about his failure to do the last right thing in his life ?to stop Jeannie from marrying Randall.

　　Driving home from Denver, Warren is in a mood of sadness and despair. Looking back at his career and family life, he feels that he is a failure that has not made any difference to the world and to the people around him. And now he is getting closer each day to grave and people will soon forget him after his death.

　　Entering his house, Warren is attracted by a letter from Tanzania. It's from Ndugu's nurse reporting the recent life of the 6-year-old kid. She tells Warren that his contribution has helped the kid in an eye operation and Ndugu is now healthily recovering from it. The kid asks the nurse to tell Warren that he has happily received and enjoyed every letter that Warren wrote him. Since Ndugu cannot read and write, he sent Warren a painting by himself to express his gratitude and love. Warren eagerly unfolds the painting. It's a very simple and name picture with a big figure and a small figure hand in hand under a bright sun. Warren's eyes become wet and tears stream down on his face.-

　　1. charity:慈善(机构)。

　　2. foster father:养父。

　　3. Tanzania:坦桑尼亚(东非国家)。

　　4. fianc?未婚夫。

　　5. casket:棺材。

　　6. groom and bride :新郎和新娘。

　　7. embark on:开始。

　　8. Alma Mater:母校。

　　9. fraternity: <美>大学生联谊会。

　　10. Indian:(美洲)印第安人。

　　11. random:胡乱的，任意的。

　　12. trailer: <美>(用汽车拖行的)活动房屋。

　　13. psychiatrist:精神病医生，精神病专家。

　　14. meditate:沉思，深思。

　　15. vulgarity:粗俗。

　　16. hospitality:热情好客，友好款待。

　　17. stagger:摇晃，蹒跚。

　　Excerpts

　　Warren's First Letter to Ndugu

　　"Dear Ndugu, my name is Warren R. Schmidt, and I am your foster father. I live in Omaha1, Nebraska. My older brother Harry lives in Rornoe, Virginia with his wife Estil. Harry lost a leg two years ago due to diabetes2. I am 66 years old and recently retired as assistant vice-president in Actuary Woodman of the World Insurance Company... Anyway, 66 must sound pretty old to a young fellow like yourself. The truth is, it sounds pretty old to me, too, because when I look into the mirror and see the wrinkles around my eyes, and sagging3 skin on my neck, and hair in my ears, and veins on my ankles, I, I can't believe it's really me. When I was a kid, I used to think that maybe I was special that somehow destiny typed me to be a great man, not like Henry Ford, or Walt Disney4 or somebody like that, but somebody, you know, semi-important. I got a degree in business and statistics, and was planning to start my own business someday, build it up into a big corporation, watch it go public5, you know, maybe make the Fortune 5006. I was going to be one of those guys you read about. But somehow, it just didn't work out that way. You got to remember I had a top-notch7 job at Woodman and a family to support. I couldn't exactly put their security at risk. Helen, that's my wife, she wouldn't have allowed it. What about my family, you might ask. What about my wife and daughter? Don't they give me all the pride and satisfaction I could ever want. Helen and I have been married 42 years. Lately every night I find myself asking the same question: Who is this old woman who lives in my house? Why is it that every little thing she does irritates me? Like the way she gets the keys out of her purse long before we reach the car, and how she throws our money away on her ridiculous little collections, and tossing out8 perfectly good food just because the expiration date9 is passed, and her obsession, her obsession with trying new restaurants. And the way she cuts me off10 when I try to speak. And I hate the way she sits, and the way she smells. For years now she has insisted that I sit when I urinate11. My promise to lift the seat and put the seat back down wasn't good enough for her. No! (Pause) Then there's Jeannie. She's our only. I bet she'll like you. She gets a big kick12 out of different languages and cultures, and so forth. She used to get by pretty good in German. She'll always be my little girl. She lives out in Denver so we don't get to see her much any more. Oh surely she'll stay in touch by phone every couple of weeks. She comes out for the holidays sometimes, but not as often as we'd like. She has a position and some responsibility out there with high tech computer outfits, very hard for her to break away. Recently she got engaged, so I, I suppose we'll be seeing even less of her now. The fellow's name is Randall Hertzel. He's got a sales job of some sort. Maybe Jeannie is a little past her prime13, but I still think she could have done a hack better. This guy just now is a snuff<注14> if you ask me, I mean not for my little girl. I'll close now and get this into mail. Here I am rambling15 on and on, and you probably want to hurry on down and cash that check16 and get yourself something to eat. So take it easy and best of luck with all your endeavors. Yours very truly, Warren Schmidt."