As Good as It Gets (1997)

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:

Waitress | Neighbor | Artist | Writer | Dog

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:

Title of this movie was translated as "Mr. Cat Poop" in Hong Kong. Apparently it came from the name "Melvin" which is pronounced very similarly to the Cantonese colloquial word for cat poop.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Melvin walks to Carol's restaurant for the first time, we see him on the sidewalk, avoiding cracks as he turns a corner. There are spectators in the background, on the sidewalks and in the street, watching the movie being shot; not the normal NYC crowds.

Quotes:

Melvin Udall: I might be the only person on the face of the earth that knows you're the greatest woman on earth. I might be the only one who appreciates how amazing you are in every single thing that you do, and how you are with Spencer, "Spence," and in every single thought that you have...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Sonny with a Chance: Guess Who's Coming to Guest Star (#1.17)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

CLIMB ON (A BACK THAT'S STRONG)

Unusual movie

This movie is bizarre because, while judged overall its story is shmaltzy and unbelievable, nevertheless each individual scene plays absolutely convincingly and feels very real. It's weird. I don't know if it's just the greatness of the actors overcoming an under-thought out script, or whether it's just the script concentrated solely on crafting great scenes one after the other, but not so much in coming up with a convincing through-line. Whatever. All I know is that this is one of the most entertaining pictures I've ever seen, extremely funny and quite emotionally affecting in places. Somehow, it just doesn't matter - I like it anyway.

The performances are uniformly excellent. Nicholson shows real range here - sure, he gets to be the sarcastic curmudgeon we've all come to expect, but his character also has moments of fear, repression and vulnerability which he brings off equally well. My problem with this character (and the "problem" only exists as I think about him afterward, not while I'm actually watching the movie) is in his conception: he seems to be whatever the writers want him to be at that moment, with no particular consistency from scene to scene so when he supposedly "changes" at the end, we're left to think, "Change? This guy's been changing through the entire movie!" And also, the fact that his character is a romance novelist is never really explained or examined in any way.

And yet, Nicholson's performance makes it not matter quite so much.

Helen Hunt is a revelation in this movie - she nails every scene she's in, whether she's forced to be witty, embarrassed, angry, defiant, emotionally overwhelmed, whatever. She keeps Jack on his toes, and they work off each other brilliantly. Also, I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but Greg Kinnear was great as Simon, the gay neighbor. (It was also nice to see director Harold Ramis - the third Ghostbuster, after all - in front of the camera again, if only briefly, in a small part as a doctor.)

What more can I say? Good comedy, good love story, great acting. None of it, in the end, is very convincing, but if you just focus on the individual moments and not on the grand design - a task made easy by the wonderful writing and playing - it's very easy to like As Good As It Gets.