As Good As It Gets -- 1997
Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding, Jr.,
Skeet Ulrich, Shirley Knight
Directed by: James L. Brooks
Rating: PG-13 Ranking: 4 stars (out of 4) Classification: romantic/comedy
I prefer to go to movies knowing as little as possible about what other people think of them, because it tends to influence me. I knew nothing about As Good As It Gets besides its stars.
I'm tempted to rank this movie low so people who see it will go in rooting for it the way they did ``Titanic''.
Nicholson is the only man who could play this role (Melvin). It was not surprising to hear that it was written mainly for him. He carries it off marvelously. As the obsessive-compulsive, Melvin continually shocks us with what he says and how he acts.
It would be easy for Nicholson to ride roughshod over the film the way Melvin wants to ride over the world. But Melvin has a weakness... namely, Helen Hunt (and a fine choice for a weakness she is ;-) Hunt plays Carol, the waitress at Melvin's favorite restaurant. She's the only one who can tolerate him, and the only one who can tame him, and even that doesn't always work. Hunt's character is a marvelous counter-balance to Nicholson's. That's no small task, and she does admirably in it.
The supporting cast, especially Kinnear, is also good. Even the dog is good, who seemed to be able to exhibit miraculous control over its bladder and whose eyes played a part in setting the stage and telling the story.
The best part of the movie is the writing. It avoids the stereotypes that would have killed the movie. The pace was perfect, keeping the story going at just the right tempo. What was (pleasantly) surprising was the ending, which I won't spoil, but will simply say that it skillfully done. As we were leaving the theatre I heard someone else say they didn't want the movie to end. I felt the same way.
Brooks draws us into this world and we truly care about those who are in it. As a romantic comedy this movie was perfect, avoiding the pitfalls gracefully, giving us a close-up of three people who could be living next door.
TjL
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