As Good as It Gets - wikipedia As Good as It Gets For the album, see Deniece Williams discography. As Good as It Gets Theatrical release poster Directed by James L. Brooks Produced by James L. Brooks Bridget Johnson Kristi Zea Screenplay by Mark Andrus James L. Brooks Story by Mark Andrus Starring Jack Nicholson Helen Hunt Greg Kinnear Cuba Gooding Jr. Skeet Ulrich Shirley Knight Music by Hans Zimmer Cinematography John Bailey Edited by Richard Marks Production company Gracie Films Distributed by TriStar Pictures Release date December 23, 1997 ( 1997 - 12 - 23 ) Running time 139 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $50 million Box office $314.1 million As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by James L. Brooks. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic and obsessive - compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with a chronically ill son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was written by Mark Andrus and Brooks. The paintings were created for the film by New York artist Billy Sullivan. Nicholson and Hunt won the Academy Award for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively, making As Good As It Gets the most recent film to win both of the lead acting awards, and the first since 1991 's The Silence of the Lambs. It is ranked 140th on Empire magazine 's `` The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time '' list. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Soundtrack 5 Release 5.1 Box office 5.2 Critical reception 5.3 Accolades 6 References 7 External links Plot Melvin Udall is a misanthrope who works at home as a best - selling novelist in New York City. He suffers from obsessive -- compulsive disorder which, paired with his misanthropy, alienates nearly everyone with whom he interacts. He avoids stepping on sidewalk cracks while walking through the city due to a superstition of bad luck, and eats breakfast at the same table in the same restaurant every day using disposable plastic utensils he brings with him due to his pathological fear of germs. He takes an interest in his waitress, Carol Connelly, the only server at the restaurant who can tolerate his behavior. One day, Melvin 's apartment neighbor, a gay artist named Simon Bishop, is assaulted and nearly killed during a robbery. Melvin is intimidated by Simon 's agent, Frank Sachs, into caring for Simon 's dog, Verdell, while Simon is hospitalized. Although he initially does not enjoy caring for the dog, Melvin becomes emotionally attached to it. He simultaneously receives more attention from Carol. When Simon is released from the hospital, Melvin is unable to cope emotionally with returning the dog. Melvin 's life is further altered when Carol decides to work closer to her home in Brooklyn so she can care for her acutely asthmatic son Spencer ( `` Spence '' ). Unable to adjust to another waitress, Melvin arranges through his publisher, whose husband is a doctor, to pay for her son 's considerable medical expenses as long as Carol agrees to return to work. She is overwhelmed at his generosity, but is adamant that she will not sleep with Melvin. Meanwhile, Simon 's assault and rehabilitation, coupled with Verdell 's preference for Melvin, causes Simon to lose his creative muse. Simon is approaching bankruptcy due to his medical bills. Frank convinces him to go to Baltimore to ask his estranged parents for money. Because Frank is too busy to take the injured Simon to Baltimore himself, Melvin reluctantly agrees to do so -- Frank lends Melvin the use of his Saab 900 convertible for the trip. Melvin invites Carol to accompany them on the trip to lessen the awkwardness. She reluctantly accepts the invitation, and relationships among the three develop. Once in Baltimore, Carol persuades Melvin to take her out to have dinner. Melvin 's comments during the dinner greatly flatter -- and subsequently upset -- Carol, and she abruptly leaves. Upon seeing the frustrated Carol, Simon begins to sketch her semi-nude in his hotel room and rekindles his creativity, once more feeling a desire to paint. He briefly reconnects with his parents, but is able to tell them that he 'll be fine. After returning to New York, Carol tells Melvin that she does not want him in her life anymore. She later regrets her statement and calls him to apologize. The relationship between Melvin and Carol remains complicated until Simon ( whom Melvin has allowed to move in with him until he can fully heal from his injuries and get a new apartment ) convinces Melvin to declare his love for her. Melvin goes to see Carol, who is hesitant, but agrees to try and establish a relationship with him. The film ends with Melvin and Carol walking together. As he opens the door at an early morning pastry shop for Carol, he realizes that he has stepped on a crack in the pavement, but does n't seem to mind. Cast Jack Nicholson as Melvin Udall Helen Hunt as Carol Connelly Greg Kinnear as Simon Bishop Cuba Gooding Jr. as Frank Sachs Shirley Knight as Beverly Connelly Jesse James as Spencer `` Spence '' Connelly Skeet Ulrich as Vincent Lopiano Yeardley Smith as Jackie Simpson Lupe Ontiveros as Nora Manning Harold Ramis as Dr. Martin Bettes Lawrence Kasdan as Dr. Green Brian Doyle - Murray as Handyman Production In 1996, James L. Brooks flew Geoffrey Rush from Sydney to Los Angeles to audition for the part of Simon Bishop, and offered him the role, but Rush declined it. Soundtrack As Good as It Gets Soundtrack album by Hans Zimmer and various artists Released January 13, 1998 Label Sony Records The soundtrack features instrumental pieces composed by Hans Zimmer and songs by various artists. Zimmer 's work was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score -- Musical or Comedy. `` As Good as It Gets '' -- Zimmer `` A Better Man '' -- Zimmer `` Humanity '' -- Zimmer `` Too Much Reality '' -- Zimmer `` 1.2. 3.4. 5 '' -- Zimmer `` Greatest Woman on Earth '' -- Zimmer `` Everything My Heart Desires '' -- Danielle Brisebois `` Under Stars '' -- Phil Roy `` My Only '' -- Danielle Brisebois `` For Sentimental Reasons ( I Love You ) '' -- Nat King Cole `` Hand on My Heart '' -- Judith Owen `` Climb on ( A Back That 's Strong ) '' -- Shawn Colvin `` Always Look on the Bright Side of Life '' -- Eric Idle Release Box Office As Good as It Gets was also a box office hit, opening at number three at the box office ( behind Titanic and Tomorrow Never Dies ) with $12.6 million, and eventually earning over $148 million domestically and $314 million worldwide. It is Jack Nicholson 's second most lucrative film, behind Batman. Critical reception Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 86 % of professional critics gave the film a positive review based on 76 reviews. Metacritic, a web site that evaluates films by averaging their overall critical response, gave the film a metascore of 67, signifying generally favorable reviews. The film 's two lead actors, Nicholson and Hunt, both received Academy and Golden Globe awards for their performances. Chicago Reader film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote that what director James Brooks `` Manages to do with ( the characters ) as they struggle mightily to connect with one another is funny, painful, beautiful, and basically truthful -- a triumph for everyone involved. '' However, praise for the film was not uniform among critics. While Roger Ebert gave the film three stars ( out of four ), he called the film a `` compromise, a film that forces a smile onto material that does n't wear one easily, '' writing that the film drew `` back to story formulas, '' but had good dialog and performances. Washington Post critic Desson Howe gave a generally negative review of the movie, writing that it `` gets bogged down in sentimentality, while its wheels spin futilely in life - solving overdrive. '' Accolades The film received generally positive reviews from critics and was nominated for and received many film awards, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture and a Golden Globe award for Best Picture - Music or Comedy. Organization Category Recipients and nominees Result Academy Awards Best Actor in a Leading Role Jack Nicholson Won Best Actress in a Leading Role Helen Hunt Won Best Actor in a Supporting Role Greg Kinnear Nominated Best Editing Richard Marks Nominated Best Picture James L. Brooks, Bridget Johnson and Kristi Zea Nominated Best Original Score -- Musical or Comedy Hans Zimmer Nominated Best Screenplay -- Original Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks Nominated ALMA Awards Outstanding Actress in a Film Lupe Ontiveros Nominated Czech Lion Awards Best Foreign Language Film James L. Brooks Nominated GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Film -- Wide Release Nominated Golden Globe Awards Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Musical or Comedy Jack Nicholson Won Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Musical or Comedy Helen Hunt Won Best Actor in a Supporting Role Greg Kinnear Nominated Best Director James L. Brooks Nominated Best Film -- Musical or Comedy Won Best Screenplay Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks Nominated MTV Movie Awards Best Performance -- Female Helen Hunt Nominated Satellite Awards Best Actor in a Leading Role -- Musical or Comedy Jack Nicholson Won Best Actress in a Leading Role -- Musical or Comedy Helen Hunt Won Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Musical or Comedy Cuba Gooding Jr. Nominated Greg Kinnear Nominated Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Musical or Comedy Shirley Knight Nominated Best Film -- Musical or Comedy James L. Brooks, Bridget Johnson and Kristi Zea Won List of awards from guilds Guild Category Recipients and nominees Result American Cinema Editors Best Edited Film Richard Marks Nominated Casting Society of America Best Casting -- Comedy Film Francine Maisler Nominated Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directing -- Motion Pictures James L. Brooks Nominated Motion Picture Sound Editors Best Sound Editing -- Music ( Domestic and Foreign ) Nominated Producers Guild of America Motion Picture Producer of the Year James L. Brooks, Bridget Johnson and Kristi Zea Nominated Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role Jack Nicholson Won Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role Greg Kinnear Nominated Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role Helen Hunt Won Writers Guild of America Best Screenplay -- Written Directly for the Screen Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks Won References ^ Jump up to : `` Box office statistics for As Good As It Gets ( 1997 ) '' Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 11, 2010. Jump up ^ `` As Good As It Gets ( 1997 ) - James L. Brooks - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie ''. Jump up ^ `` Empire Features ''. Empire. Retrieved October 17, 2009. Jump up ^ Douglas Aiton, `` 10 Things You Did n't Know About Geoffrey Rush '', Weekend Australian Magazine, 4 - 5 September 2004, p. 12 Jump up ^ `` Weekend Box Office Results for December 26 -- 28, 1997 ''. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 6, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Batman ( 1989 ) ''. Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. Retrieved July 6, 2009. Jump up ^ Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 11, 2010 Jump up ^ Metacritic. Retrieved January 7, 2009 Jump up ^ Chicago Reader review. Retrieved January 7, 2009 Jump up ^ Roger Ebert review. Retrieved January 7, 2009 Jump up ^ Washington Post review. Retrieved January 7, 2009 External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : As Good as It Gets As Good as It Gets on IMDb As Good as It Gets at the TCM Movie Database As Good as It Gets at AllMovie As Good as It Gets at the American Film Institute Catalog As Good as It Gets at Box Office Mojo As Good as It Gets at Rotten Tomatoes As Good as It Gets at Metacritic As Good as It Gets at The New York Times As Good as It Gets soundtrack review at AllMusic Awards Preceded by The Silence of the Lambs Academy Award winner for Best Actor and Best Actress Succeeded by No film has achieved this since Gracie Films James L. Brooks TV series The Tracey Ullman Show ( 1987 -- 1990 ) The Simpsons ( 1989 -- present ) Sibs ( 1991 -- 1992 ) Phenom ( 1993 -- 1994 ) The Critic ( 1994 -- 1995 ) What About Joan ? ( 2001 -- 2002 ) Movies Broadcast News ( 1987 ) Big ( 1988 ) Say Anything... ( 1989 ) The War of the Roses ( 1989 ) I 'll Do Anything ( 1994 ) Jerry Maguire ( 1996 ) Bottle Rocket ( 1996 ) As Good as It Gets ( 1997 ) Riding in Cars with Boys ( 2001 ) Spanglish ( 2004 ) The Simpsons Movie ( 2007 ) How Do You Know ( 2010 ) The Longest Daycare ( 2012 ) The Edge of Seventeen ( 2016 ) 20th Century Fox Television Sony Pictures Entertainment Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy An American in Paris ( 1951 ) With a Song in My Heart ( 1952 ) Carmen Jones ( 1954 ) Guys and Dolls ( 1955 ) The King and I ( 1956 ) Les Girls ( 1957 ) Gigi / Auntie Mame ( 1958 ) Porgy and Bess / Some Like It Hot ( 1959 ) Song Without End / The Apartment ( 1960 ) West Side Story / A Majority of One ( 1961 ) The Music Man / That Touch of Mink ( 1962 ) Tom Jones ( 1963 ) My Fair Lady ( 1964 ) The Sound of Music ( 1965 ) The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming ( 1966 ) The Graduate ( 1967 ) Oliver ! ( 1968 ) The Secret of Santa Vittoria ( 1969 ) MASH ( 1970 ) Fiddler on the Roof ( 1971 ) Cabaret ( 1972 ) American Graffiti ( 1973 ) The Longest Yard ( 1974 ) The Sunshine Boys ( 1975 ) A Star Is Born ( 1976 ) The Goodbye Girl ( 1977 ) Heaven Can Wait ( 1978 ) Breaking Away ( 1979 ) Coal Miner 's Daughter ( 1980 ) Arthur ( 1981 ) Tootsie ( 1982 ) Yentl ( 1983 ) Romancing the Stone ( 1984 ) Prizzi 's Honor ( 1985 ) Hannah and Her Sisters ( 1986 ) Hope and Glory ( 1987 ) Working Girl ( 1988 ) Driving Miss Daisy ( 1989 ) Green Card ( 1990 ) Beauty and the Beast ( 1991 ) The Player ( 1992 ) Mrs. Doubtfire ( 1993 ) The Lion King ( 1994 ) Babe ( 1995 ) Evita ( 1996 ) As Good as It Gets ( 1997 ) Shakespeare in Love ( 1998 ) Toy Story 2 ( 1999 ) Almost Famous ( 2000 ) Moulin Rouge ! ( 2001 ) Chicago ( 2002 ) Lost in Translation ( 2003 ) Sideways ( 2004 ) Walk the Line ( 2005 ) Dreamgirls ( 2006 ) Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ( 2007 ) Vicky Cristina Barcelona ( 2008 ) The Hangover ( 2009 ) The Kids Are All Right ( 2010 ) The Artist ( 2011 ) Les Misérables ( 2012 ) American Hustle ( 2013 ) The Grand Budapest Hotel ( 2014 ) The Martian ( 2015 ) La La Land ( 2016 ) Satellite Award for Best Film Musical or Comedy ( 1996 -- 2009, retired ) Evita ( 1996 ) As Good as It Gets ( 1997 ) Shakespeare in Love ( 1998 ) Being John Malkovich ( 1999 ) Nurse Betty ( 2000 ) Moulin Rouge ! ( 2001 ) My Big Fat Greek Wedding ( 2002 ) Lost in Translation ( 2003 ) Sideways ( 2004 ) Walk the Line ( 2005 ) Dreamgirls ( 2006 ) Juno ( 2007 ) Happy - Go - Lucky ( 2008 ) Nine ( 2009 ) Motion Picture Drama ( 1996 -- 2009, retired ) Fargo ( 1996 ) Titanic ( 1997 ) The Thin Red Line ( 1998 ) The Insider ( 1999 ) Traffic ( 2000 ) In the Bedroom ( 2001 ) Far from Heaven ( 2002 ) In America ( 2003 ) Hotel Rwanda ( 2004 ) Brokeback Mountain ( 2005 ) The Departed ( 2006 ) No Country for Old Men ( 2007 ) Slumdog Millionaire ( 2008 ) The Hurt Locker ( 2009 ) Motion Picture ( 2010 -- present ) The Social Network ( 2010 ) The Descendants ( 2011 ) Silver Linings Playbook ( 2012 ) 12 Years a Slave ( 2013 ) Birdman or ( The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance ) ( 2014 ) Spotlight ( 2015 ) La La Land / Manchester by the Sea ( 2016 ) Films directed by James L. Brooks Terms of Endearment ( 1983 ) Broadcast News ( 1987 ) I 'll Do Anything ( 1994 ) As Good as It Gets ( 1997 ) Spanglish ( 2004 ) How Do You Know ( 2010 ) Obsessive -- compulsive disorder ( F42, 300.3 ) History Yale -- Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Biology Neuroanatomy Basal ganglia ( striatum ) Orbitofrontal cortex Cingulate cortex Brain - derived neurotrophic factor Receptors 5 - HT β 5 - HT 5 - HT μ Opioid NK NMDA Symptoms Obsessions ( associative diagnostic injurious scrupulous pathogenic sexual ) Compulsions ( impulses, rituals tics ) Thought suppression ( avoidance ) Hoarding ( animals, books possessions ) Treatment Serotonergics Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors Escitalopram Fluoxetine Fluvoxamine Paroxetine Sertraline Citalopram Nefazodone Serotonin -- norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors Venlafaxine Desvenlafaxine Duloxetine Serotonin -- norepinephrine -- dopamine reuptake inhibitors Nefazodone Monoamine oxidase inhibitors Phenelzine Tranylcypromine Tricyclic antidepressants Clomipramine Serotonergic psychedelics Lysergic acid diethylamide Psilocin Atypical antipsychotics Aripiprazole Quetiapine Mu opioidergics Hydrocodone Morphine Tramadol Anticholinergics Diphenhydramine NMDA glutamatergics Riluzole NK - 1 tachykininergics Aprepitant Other Nicotine Memantine Tautomycin Behavioral Cognitive behavioral therapy ( Exposure and response prevention ) Inference - based therapy Organizations International OCD Foundation OCD Action Notable people Edna B. Foa Stanley Rachman Adam S. Radomsky Jeffrey M. Schwartz Susan Swedo Emily Colas Popular culture Literature / Comics Fictional Matchstick Men Plyushkin Xenocide Nonfiction Everything in Its Place Just Checking Media As Good as It Gets The Aviator Matchstick Men Adrian Monk `` $ pringfield '' Related Obsessive -- compulsive personality disorder Obsessional jealousy Primarily Obsessional OCD Relationship obsessive -- compulsive disorder Social anxiety disorder Tourette syndrome Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=As_Good_as_It_Gets&oldid=817225112 '' Categories : 1997 films English - language films Obsessive -- compulsive disorder 1990s romantic comedy films American films American LGBT - related films 1990s LGBT - related films American romantic comedy films Best Musical or Comedy Picture Golden Globe winners Films scored by Hans Zimmer Films about writers Films directed by James L. Brooks Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award - winning performance Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award - winning performance Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe winning performance Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe winning performance Films produced by James L. Brooks Films set in New York City Films shot in New York City Gracie Films films Obsessive -- compulsive disorder in fiction TriStar Pictures films Screenplays by James L. Brooks Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from October 2015 Film articles using image size parameter Articles with hAudio microformats Album infoboxes lacking a cover Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Български Bosanski Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Latina Nederlands 日本 語 Polski Português Română Русский Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska ไทย Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 27 December 2017, at 00 : 53. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who starred in as good as it gets
Answer: Jack Nicholson