Crackpot finds love and an unlikely gay friend

Rating: 10/10 (5 September 2005)

I have now watched the film 3 times but not yet at the cinema. It seems to me to be better, more subtle and more thought provoking each time I watch it. Jack Nicholson, playing the neurotic Melvin Udall, is worth every plaudit the great actor has received. The first part of the film establishes him has a most unlikable character, so much so that when he starts to do kindnesses one feels disorientated. Helen Hunt as Carol the waitress in Melvin's favourite restaurant is an admirable foil to Melvin's battyness; calm, sensible, yet beset by worry about her son's illness. She establishes her part in the film with assured, entirely believable acting. Melvin takes on the unlikely role of pet sitter to gay artist neighbour (Greg Kinnear) Simon's dog (which we already know he hates). This unlikely happening is accomplished by excellent acting by all concerned not least Simon's unscrupulous male model . Carol (the only waitress that Melvin trusts) has to take time off because her son is ill. Melvin uses the considerable financial clout he wields as a successful author to employ a doctor (admirably played by Lawrence Kasden)to treat the boy. Carol, though grateful, suspects that Melvin's motives are less than pure. We, the audience, believe that Melvin only wanted to be fed but maybe Carol puts ideas into his head ...Meanwhile the counter plot of Simon having fallen on hard times leads to a visit of the trio to Baltimore and a chance for relationships to develop not always comfortably. Watch this splendid movie with a loved one but without interruption. With luck you will be moved to be kinder to all the human oddities who cross your path.