As Good as It Gets (1997)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

James L. Brooks

Writers (WGA):

Mark Andrus (story)
Mark Andrus (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Brace yourself for Melvin.

Plot:

A single mother/waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship

Plot Keywords:

Artist | Neighbor | Writer | Dog | Waitress

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 25 nominations

Cast

Jack Nicholson	...	Melvin Udall
Helen Hunt	...	Carol Connelly
Greg Kinnear	...	Simon Bishop
Cuba Gooding Jr.	...	Frank Sachs
Skeet Ulrich	...	Vincent Lopiano
Shirley Knight	...	Beverly Connelly
Yeardley Smith	...	Jackie Simpson
Lupe Ontiveros	...	Nora Manning
Jill the Dog	...	Verdell (as Jill)
Timer the Dog	...	Supporting Dog (as Timer)
Billy the Dog	...	Supporting Dog (as Billy)
Bibi Osterwald	...	Neighbor Woman
Ross Bleckner	...	Carl
Bernadette Balagtas	...	Caterer
Jaffe Cohen	...	Partygoer

Also Known As:

Old Friends (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 on appeal for strong language, thematic elements, nudity and a beating.

Runtime:

139 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Austria:6 | Belgium:KT | Brazil:Livre | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:6 (bw) | Hong Kong:IIA | Iceland:L | Italy:T | Mexico:B | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35079) (re-rating on appeal) | USA:R (original rating)

Filming Locations:

1 Windsor Place, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Trivia:

Udall's response to the question about how he writes women is an actual response given by author John Updike when asked the same question.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Carol takes the train to see Melvyn, after getting out of bed and for the sole purpose of telling him she won't sleep with him, the LED sign on the subway car she is riding says, "Subway Shuttle: Out of Service."

Quotes:

Simon Bishop: Lucky for you... you're here for rock-bottom. You absolute horror of a human being.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 55th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1998) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Y.M.C.A.

This almost all Oscar winner cast gives such a great performance that it makes it almost impossible not to love this movie in its entirety!

Directed by Oscar nominee James L. Brooks, the story written by Mark Andrus brings up not only very interesting characters but also very interesting issues. I have the video and enjoy watching it. The CD is great with music of Nat King Cole, Shawn Colkin. Outstanding acting by Helen Hunt (Mad About You, Twister) who won an Oscar for this role where she plays Carol Connelly, a single mother, working as waitress in Manhattan, New York. A single parent trying to cope with her work and paying medical bills for son Spencer Connelly, played by Jesse James (Message in a Bottle, The Gingerbread Men, Gods and Monsters). Jack Nicholson (A Few Good Men, Easy Rider, Witches of Eastwick) is Melvin Udall who is an obsessive compulsive. Nicholson also won an Oscar for his part. His obsessive compulsiveness has taken over his life and he is not able to live a normal life. Melvin Udall has tons of soap all organized in his medicine cabinet. He uses a bar of soap once and then throws it out. He will not step on a crack on the side walk but skips to the next block of concrete. When he goes to the restaurant he brings his own plastic fork, knife and spoon in a plastic bag. Udall uses plastic gloves to hold the dog and has all his office supply stacked and all color coordinated in his home/office. He eats at the same restaurant, sits at the same table, if someone is seating at his table he insults them to make them leave so that he has his table back, wants the same waiter Carol to wait on him, and takes forever to take a shower. He closes his door several times and counts how many times he has done it. As a writer who works at home I do understand Mr. Udall really well. Writers think somewhat like this: we like to be alone with ourselves in order to think. We have to go inside ourselves to produce good work. It is a very isolated world. We do not like to be bothered unless we are bored, or tired, in which case we want to communicate with the outside world for a brief period of time, then after one hour or so we want to go back inside ourselves again and be left alone. This is somehow like Melvin thinks. People think that he has nothing to do and they keep knocking at his door and he gets really aggravated about that. He is my favorite character in this movie, not to diminish the other ones. He is just so full on nuances that make him very entertaining. Helen's role is very, very, good and she did a really good job with it. Greg Kinnear (Sabrina) is Simon Bishop, the artist who is Udall's next door neighbor who finally has Melvin turning into a little more normal human being and he is there to teach him many life lessons. The supporting actors are great, you have Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. (Jerry Maguire) playing Frank Sachs, Simon's agent.

My favorite scenes: elementary school kids all in uniform screaming: "Wait! Melvin, wait"! Greg Kinnear imitating Melvin. Melvin and Caroll going to eat fresh rolls in the wee hours of the morning. When Melvin realizes that the dog is also skipping cracks on the sidewalk.

My favorite quote: "I am drowning here and you are describing the water." This is a nice story telling movie. I recommend it!