As Good As It Gets

 

 

Create your own review

As Good as It Gets (1997)
Comedy, Drama, Romance, 139 minutes
Directed by James L. Brooks
Starring Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear

As Good as It Gets blends drama, comedy and romance so well that it's hard to decide which category the movie falls into. Nominated for seven Oscars, Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt took home the leading actor honors. It was a competitive year with Titanic, L.A. Confidential and Good Will Hunting also in the running.

It's hard to choose Nicholson's top performance with so many candidates choose from, but this has to rank among his best and he thoroughly deserved his third Oscar win. Nicholson plays author Melvin Udall. He lives alone and seems to hate most of the world around him. One of his least favorite people is his homosexual neighbor, Simon (Kinnear). In contrast, one of his favorite people is Carol (Hunt). From Melvin's point of view she's the only competent waitress at his local diner.

As the story unfolds, we learn more about these three people. Melvin has OCD and we see him avoiding cracks in the pavement. He's severely messed up in a number of other ways too. Carol puts on a brave face at work, but she has to deal with her sick son on a daily basis and it's a heavy burden. Simon is an artist and seems to be intimidated by Melvin's attitude toward him.

Nicholson is such a good actor and has incredible range. Think back to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for an example of how he can inject comedy into serious drama. I think his ability to make people laugh is often overlooked. As Melvin, he highlights that ability. Melvin isn't a very nice human being, but Nicholson actually makes us root for him. Carol is a positive influence and is the main reason he tries to change. Melvin does care about people, but it's buried beneath the surface.

Nicholson makes us believe that a 60-year-old man with psychological problems is capable of attracting a woman in her early 30s. Kinnear plays Simon just about perfectly and was nominated for the performance. He also shows plenty of comedic ability and times everything well. The interplay between the three characters is fascinating and comes to a head when they take a trip together.

The film contains some of the best dialogue I have heard. Some scenes will bring you close to tears while others will make you laugh. It's a shame that Nicholson and Hunt weren't given more opportunities to make films such as this.

Lots of movies I liked pretty well the first time I saw them weren't nearly as appealing when I see them again some years later.

I recently saw this movie for the third time on DVD, and darn if it doesn't get more delicious every time.

The writing is so crisp it snaps. The acting is so pleasurable it's like being ring-side at a 3-ring circus. The direction, photography, set design, art direction, etc.

I hear often in recent reviews that Jack Nicholson is given roles where he gets, essentially, to play Jack Nicholson. This is not to imply that Jack is any flavor of heartless romance writer with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - but it means that the "Jack" we get to see in this movie seems a good guy to spend 2 hours with. Helen Hunt, Cuba Gooding, Jr and Greg Kinnear make perfect stand-ins for our desire to "hang out with Jack".

This is the movie that "Something's Gotta Give" desperately wants to be - yet this film exceeds that more recent work by pretty much every measurable marker.

I'll watch this film probably once a year as long as I live. The one time I saw Something's Gotta Give was enough.

Jack Nicholson has a certain character down pat, and has played that character with variations for the last decade. When Jack Nicholson plays obsessive-compulsive Melvin Udall, a reclusive writer with a routine so set that even the most minor deviation causes mental anguish, the results are continuously hilarious.

To be funny Jack requires other good actors, and in this movie Jack gets Helen Hunt as waitress and love interest Carol Connelly, Greg Kinnear as alternate lifestyle artist Simon Bishop, Cuba Gooding as Greg's agent Frank Sachs, and a wonderful little dog named Verdell.

As you would expect Melvin holds rigid opinions about everyone and everything. Fortunately he rarely has to interface with anyone at length, so his unreserved comments about others rarely offend others to the point where they refuse to deal with him, or worse, hit him. However, two events conspire to force Melvin to change.

First, Simon is beat up by a group of men robbing his house. Someone has to take care of Verdell the dog, and Melvin is forced into taking care of Verdell by Cuba Gooding. At first Melvin is completely unable to tolerate the dog, but the dog slowly wins Melvin over, putting a small chink into Melvin's curmudgeon armor.

The second event that upsets Melvin's rigid life is that Carol misses a day of work. Melvin must be served by Carol or his breakfast routine just is not right. Melvin finds Carol at her house and discovers that she is being kept at home by her sick son. Not letting anything stand in his way, Melvin arranges for a doctor to take care of Carol's son. As Melvin gets to know Carol better, her opinion of him starts to matter, and Melvin finds that he is falling in love with Carol. I leave the rest of this story to the viewer.

It is easy to find fault with Jack Nicholson in this role because this role was his with little or no effort. However, it matters not that this role fits with Jack Nicholson's character so well that you would think Jack is just like his character in real life, what matters is that Jack is perfectly believable. The change that we see in Jack throughout this movie and the interactions with the various characters that brings about this change is the heart of this movie. That watching the change is humorous and makes you feel good is just that much more benefit.

This movie is the rare funny, feel good movie that makes you want to watch it again. Perhaps the theme is just a bit trite, but we all want to believe in the core good of all people. Watch this movie and enjoy the easy smile it puts on your face.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 225 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

2.0 out of 5 stars pretty boring........yup........boring........(snore)
I watched this movie twice. Both times it sucked. I thought maybe if I watched it a second time, I would have better luck, but no. Read more

Published on July 12 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars "Come on in, and try not to ruin everything by being you."
AS GOOD AS IT GETS is...
...a beautiful character study.
...an Oscar-garnering comedy of 1997.
... Read more

Published on July 8 2004 by QUEEN_OF_EVERYTHING

5.0 out of 5 stars you should be made to touch my pubic hair
the part in the resteraunt where jack tells the adjacent table that they should be made to touch his pubic hair.........jack, baby, your beautiful

Published on July 6 2004 by chris_peters

5.0 out of 5 stars Love Jack
This is one of my favorite movies. I have and can watch it over and over again. I will go watch anything with Jack in it.

Published on Jun 16 2004 by Renna

3.0 out of 5 stars Could have been better
It's a fun movie to watch mainly for the way the lead characters interact with each other. It was missing cinematic aspects, but felt more like a play captured on film. Read more

Published on Jun 8 2004 by montmeru

5.0 out of 5 stars "You make me want to be a better man"...
...if that wasn't one of the better, more memorable lines in any movie made in the 90's...

And that line encapsulates the story, which is essentially the story of an incredibly... Read more

Published on May 24 2004 by Christian Hunter

5.0 out of 5 stars fun for the whole family
As the opening credits are rolling in white letters over the action, the camera pans downward to a city street scene in lower Manhattan. Read more

Published on May 16 2004 by mark twain

4.0 out of 5 stars human transformation
I like the transformation process. How a woman could change a person. Make so much difference in a person.

Published on May 15 2004 by abidur rehman

5.0 out of 5 stars You Down With OCD? Oh Yeah That's Me!
There's a lotta bruthas out there flakin an perpetratin but scared to kick reality. This particular playa (Jack Nicholson) got the OCD chronic, yo. Read more

Published on May 14 2004 by mark twain

3.0 out of 5 stars Only OK.
This movie did not do a lot for me. I mean, it was a really boring pointless movie. Sure, relationships did develop and the characters changed but it was really a snooze. Read more

Published on May 11 2004 by Ryne Williams

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 225 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!