I would rather be waterboarded than watch this movie again... Yes, I'd prefer the terrorist-treatment from my own country's unaccountable CIA than run through this agonizing travesty of a film another time. Of course, I exaggerate, but I do value this movie not at all except as an object of torture. I guarantee I would break under the strain of a second viewing. I'd tell ya anything... Except that this movie is good. In all honesty, it is not terrible. I assume that there are some out there who do honestly enjoy it in all its patient, dull humor and elderly psychology.
The message is something like this: Old age slows, wears out, and drags to a halt the lithe, lovely energy of youth. It is a vice on the enjoyability of existence, slowly shutting on vivacity and revolution. But, it does not have to be. Schultz and his friends learn in the fourth quarter that retirement is not death... Well, unless you want it to be. It can be avoided, escaped, outplayed. Joy can be achieved!
Frankly, this film is not to my tastes. I find it agonizingly sluggish, even stagnant. I like deliberate, not paraplegic pacing. I like wit and dialogue, strong characters, and subtle story telling. This film is slow and unsubtle, with mediocre acting, a minimalist script, and excessive reliance on what is mediocre direction and photography. There never seemed to me to be a moment of energy. No climax. The characters were static, taciturn, two-dimensional, and unlovable. Of course, there was purported to be massive changes occurring in our protagonists, but the acting and characterization did not bear them out.
Avoiding comparisons with other films is difficult, and should usually be omitted. Still, I would suggest that this film is very similar, though inferior, to the soul-searching, revolution and redemption seeking Jack Nicholson tale, About Schmidt. Schmidt outdoes Schultz in most every way.
If you are in the mood for a slow, meandering, slightly humorous tale of humanity in its late stages, either of these films might do. One thing I need to say before closing is that this story is an intensely human and personal. It is the ditty of an older man who learns how to jig to his own tune, when, evidently, he has been following the herd all his life. If you like music, you might find this movie entertaining. If you appreciate decisive, deliberate movement and momentum, this film might bore you to death.