(For your consideration -- the following review of "As Good As It Gets" that I wrote for the Dec. 97-Jan. 98 issue of _Out & About North Florida_, a publication of the Lesbian and Gay Community Association of Jacksonville. The issue was printed on Dec. 19.)
By Dennis Lewis
OK, guys, if you've had a crush on Greg Kinnear ever since his days as host of "Talk Soup," you're in for a real treat this Christmas.
Kinnear plays gay artist Simon Bishop in the movie "As Good As It Gets," which opens Dec. 25 at theaters in Jacksonville and elsewhere.
Simon is a painter whose Manhattan apartment/studio is across the hall from the apartment of Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson). Melvin is a self- centered, opinionated, obsessive-compulsive author.
To describe Melvin's comments as "politically incorrect" is an understatement. His thoughtless remarks have managed to alienate almost every customer and employee of the neighborhood cafe he visits for breakfast each morning.
Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt) is the only waitress who's willing to overlook Melvin's idiosyncrasies. Therefore, she becomes the stabilizing figure in the neurotic Melvin's morning breakfast ritual.
Melvin's neighbors aren't sure of how to perceive him and, at first, the audience may not be, either.
Often Nicholson uses facial expressions that seem like a throwback to his portrayal of another author, Jack Torrance, in 1980's "The Shining." If this movie hadn't been advertised as a comedy, audiences probably would expect Melvin to start breaking down d oors with an ax.
Melvin uses non-PC dialogue when referring to Simon, but we soon learn that he's not a homophobe. Melvin makes comments that are just as impolite to a couple he perceives as Jewish who are sitting at his usual table in the restaurant. But by then the audience knows that Melvin isn't a bigot, he's just upset at encountering a change in his breakfast ritual.
The director, James L. Brooks, uses Melvin's obsessive-compulsive disorder to bring in dialogue that studios would have been too nervous to permit just a few years ago.
We may wince at many of the comments Melvin makes to Simon. And socially conscious straights (and gays) may feel a twinge of guilt as they chuckle at those lines. Yet it's clear that there's no hatred behind any of Melvin's remarks.
Kinnear plays Simon with admirable restraint. Kinnear's mannerisms border on excess flamboyance in the opening scene in which Simon welcomes home his lost dog (the pooch Melvin sent down a garbage chute). But once Kinnear settles into the role, Simon comes across as the average gay man (i.e., as unobtrusive as any other man on the street).
Yes, Simon is one of filmdom's "gay guys even a Southern Baptist could love." Like George Downes (Rupert Everett) in "My Best Friend's Wedding," Simon helps a straight couple sort out their feelings for each other. But unlike Kevin Kline in "In & Out," he doesn't get to kiss Tom Selleck.
Now that Ellen Degeneres has shaken the taboo of being "out" on screen, writers of romantic comedies have embraced the gay male character who can serve as the lead female's confidant while not posing a threat to the male lead.
Should we be upset that there isn't a romance for Simon in "As Good As It Gets?" Well, the actor who would have been chosen for an on-screen kiss with Kinnear has reason to be riled. But Kinnear's character is a groundbreaking role in another area -- a gay man who could be spokesman for the "True Love Waits" movement.
Vincent (Skeet Ulrich), the street hustler Simon invites in to model for his next project, is certainly surprised that modeling is all Simon has in mind. And gays may think it is just *too convenient* that the script has made Simon a single guy still waiting for the right man to come along.
But later in the movie, when Simon reminds Melvin of how fortunate any man would be to meet the one other individual he wants to be with the majority of time, we realize that Simon hasn't abandoned a goal many of us have discarded.
The publicity campaign for "As Good As It Gets" began three months ago, possibly because Tri-Star Pictures realized a character with the disposition of Melvin Udall might not make an ideal first impression with an audience.
When I first saw the preview and the scene that shows Melvin sending Simon's dog down the garbage chute, I thought, "No way am I going to pay $6 to see this." But my opinion of the movie began to change the more I saw the preview.
There was a charm in the scene showing Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt in a restaurant on Chesapeake Bay while "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons" plays in the background. (Ironically, despite the allure of that scene in the preview, the song isn't featured at that point in the actual movie. And the preview itself contains a longer snippet of the song than is actually used in the film.)
The only connection between the Christmas season and "As Good As It Gets" is the movie's Dec. 25 release date. But this movie, with its themes of true love and true friendship, is perfect for the holiday.
"As Good As It Gets" Cast: Jack Nicholson..........................Melvin Udall Helen Hunt..............................Carol Connelly Greg Kinnear............................Simon Bishop Cuba Gooding Jr.........................Frank Sachs Skeet Ulrich............................Vincent Shirley Knight..........................Beverly Yeardley Smith..........................Jackie Lup Ontiveros...........................Nora Jesse James.............................Spencer Stone Directed by James L. Brooks Written by Marcus Andrus, James L. Brooks Rated PG-13 Length: 138 minutes
A Tri-Star Pictures Release
Credits Source: The Internet Movie Database
(http://us.imdb.com or http://italy.imdb.com) Review (c) 1997 Dennis Lewis Articles in Out & About North Florida (c) Lesbian and Gay Community Association of Jacksonville
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews