JACK Nicholson has amassed a cupboard full of awards, including 11 Oscar nominations, in his career and the wonderful About Schmidt (15) looks certain to add to his collection.

The charismatic star delivers a tour de force performance that is poignant, beautifully observed and ultimately uplifting. His portrayal of a lonely widower scrambling fearfully for some meaning in his humdrum life is so complete and richly detailed, you lose sight of Nicholson the actor. All you see is a desperately unhappy man, whose comb-over and dubious fashion sense cannot hide the deeply buried desire to belong.

Nicholson is the Schmidt of the title, a loyal servant who finally retires as an actuary for Woodmen Of The World Insurance Company, after a lifetime of service. Suddenly, there is no direction in his life, and his sense of isolation is compounded when his wife of 42 years, June Squibb, dies whilst vacuuming the house.

With nothing to keep him at his home in Nebraska, Nicholson jumps into his 35ft Winnebago Adventurer mobile home he and his wife bought for their retirement and heads for Denver. There, he hopes to make peace with his estranged daughter Hope Davis, and prevent her marrying loser waterbed salesman Dermot Mulroney.

En route, Nicholson realises his purpose in life, and how much time he has already wasted.

Aside from Nicholson's bravura theatrics, the rest of the cast are excellent. Mulroney's bride-groom-to-be is pitched nicely just short of buffoon and Kathy Bates is superb as Randall's self-obsessed bohemian mum.

The dialogue is elegant, and Nicholson's ever-present voiceover is delightfully droll.