"Sell 'crazy' somewhere else!"

Rating: Null/10 (4 August 2003)

Didn't everyone but the dog get an Oscar nomination out of this film?
Hey, the dog was brilliant opposite Jack and Kinnear, he deserved a little doggie Oscar, in my opinion. He seemed to play back some of Nicholson's mugging to him.
Man, I'm a hardboiled cynic, but I really crave this movie: its just too funny. Hope Lange as Mother really outdid herself, too. Freaking everyone in the film commands the screen and frankly, those are the kind of performances required when you have Jack in a movie. Otherwise he just chews the scenery to shreds, leaving you with only his indelible performance in the aftermath (a la "A Few Good Men").
Helen Hunt is actually good in this movie, her only worthwhile cinematic performance since that Girl Quarterback movie and "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" (Man, is that a great movie, but I digress...)
Also, a reprise of the waitress-abuse which fairly launched The Jack in "Five Easy Pieces". Consistency, consistency.
What a happy ending! What a nice guy Melvin turns out to be. He's so bad, that it has to turn out good, just to lend balance.