Jack Nicholson is one of our most interesting actors, although he has done a lot of slumming in his illustrious career. Some of his best recent work appears in "About Schmidt" where he portrays a retiring insurance salesman whose wife has just died, and who suddenly decides that his life has been without meaning. In this wonderful scene, he goes to the bathroom and has an epiphany -- he no longer has to play by life's rules. He can piss outside the bowl if he wants. Nicely conceived and directed (by Alexander Payne) and convincingly acted, and as a bonus, this scene is a terrific example of how diegetic sound can tell a story without a word of dialogue.
