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A single mother/waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship.
Jack Nicholson: Melvin Udall
Helen Hunt: Carol Connelly
Greg Kinnear: Simon Bishop
Nicholson won a well-deserved Oscar for this movie. Then again, I feel like he deserves an Oscar for virtually everything he's been in. Hell, you can even give him an Oscar nod for Anger Management. THATS how great he is! He's one of those actors who can communicate even more emotion when he's not saying anything than when he is. And of course, he has one of the coolest movie star voices ever, so it makes it a joy whenever he does speak. I still feel like "You can't handle the truth!" wouldn't be as priceless a line if Jack didn't yell it. He can say almost any line of dialogue and turn it into gold. In this movie it was "You make me wanna be a better man." Again, an otherwise forgettable line of dialogue made timeless and moving by Jack.
As Good As It Gets is a flawed film but it doesn't matter, with scenes that drag over an overlong running time, but it's highly enjoyable and altogether pretty well-written. Aside from its many hilarious moments, it's also quite touching. But I have to admit that it's the comedy that sticks out most in my memory. There's some priceless gags like when a Jewish couple is sitting at Jack's usual table. He first intrudes into their conversation saying something about his crotch He complains to Helen Hunt, his usual waitress, saying "I have Jews at my table!", He then intrudes in the couple's conversation again, noticing the food on their table, saying "Obviously your appetites aren't as big as your noses." Now, I probably wouldn't want to personally know a man like Melvin in my real life, but I still found those cracks to be hysterically funny. The same when he attacks Greg Kinnear's gay character with constant homosexual slurs.
The performances are great all-around. Though Jack pretty much steals the show, Greg Kinnear gives a wonderfully endearing performance. He doesn't play out the gay stereotypes, yet he's sensitive and feminine enough to have me convinced that he is gay. It's nice to see Kinnear rise from the host of Talk Soup and the thankless late night talk show Later to a fine actor. Previously, I wouldn't have any notion that he could become what he is now. Helen Hunt also gives a compelling, emotionally packed performance. And Shirley Knight, as her mother, provides a little bit of comic relief. Cuba Gooding Jr. has a small but interesting role, and he makes the best of it.
Frank, played by Gooding Jr., decides to give the dog to Melvin, who refuses at first but is left without any option but to obey. He soon achieves a certain subtle love for the beast, and when Simon has healed and comes back for the dog, it doesn't even want to leave. It even starts to develop nasty habits, like avoiding cracks in the sidewalk.
Meanwhile, a troubled single mother and a part-time waitress, Carol is constantly nagged by Melvin. Only she can deliver him food. Only she can take his order. Only she can kick him out of the restaurant. Mistaking this for some sort of sexual craving, she tells Melvin flat-out that she will never sleep with him. He doesn't seem to care. That had never even crossed his mind.
The fact is that Melvin is insufferably lonely. He likes to act as though he likes to be lonely, but the truth is that his loneliness is something he loathes. He would love to reach out and gain some friends--but he's too proud to humble himself in such a way. We all know people like Melvin--he just takes himself to a new extreme.
Melvin is surely one of the great screen characters of all time, ranking up there with Raymond Rain Man Babbitt and Forrest Gump as some of the most unique and likable inventions to ever grace the big screen. Nicholson presents his character in an especially effective way--at first he seems gruff, then he seems strange, then his soft side is revealed, and he slowly becomes the likable mean guy who lives upstairs and likes to try and kill neighbors' dogs.
Hunt won the Oscar for her work in As Good As It Gets, but it was truly Nicholson who deserved it.
Regardless of all this, As Good As It Gets still stands alone as one of the cleverest romantic comedies of all time, and certainly one that both sexes can agree on. The film features some of the most memorable lines ever written on paper, the majority of them all coming from the lips of Melvin Udall, perfectly spoken by a typical gruff Jack Nicholson. They all come off as utterly hilarious and convincing.
"If I went by your eyes I'd say you were kind.''
This is the type of new-age romantic comedy that rivals the greatness of When Harry Met Sally or Sleepless in Seattle. It's founded in its characters, their lives, their interaction, and how they learn to overcome their own personal obstacles and moral obligations. This film carries all the Autumn-time sweetness and cleverness of a Rob Reiner comedy, and all the lightness of a Frank Capra movie.
I just like to end with the scene for me that really touched me in it's deep awe inspiring glory, that shows a bold definition of what love can truly be like:
I've got a really great compliment for you, and it's true.
Carol Connelly
I'm so afraid you're about to say something awful.
Melvin Udall
Don't be pessimistic, it's not your style. Okay, here I go: Clearly, a mistake. I've got this, what - ailment? My doctor, a shrink that I used to go to all the time, he says that in fifty or sixty percent of the cases, a pill really helps. I *hate* pills, very dangerous thing, pills. Hate. I'm using the word "hate" here, about pills. Hate. My compliment is, that night when you came over and told me that you would never... well, you were there, you know what you said. Well, my compliment to you is, the next morning, I started taking the pills.
Carol Connelly
I don't quite get how that's a compliment for me.
Melvin Udall
You make me want to be a better man.
Carol Connelly
That's maybe the best compliment of my life.
Melvin Udall
Well, maybe I overshot a little, because I was aiming at just enough to keep you from walking out.
9/10
