Under-rated for some reason...

Rating: 9/10 (12 July 2005)

This may be somewhat under-rated as I expect it deserves to be in the top 250 but for some reason it doesn't quite cut it with the voters out there. I cannot understand why, reason be it that Helen Hunt puts a little too much sentimentality into her role that it comes off as unrealistic, or maybe Greg Kinnear isn't a convincing homosexual, I surely could expect any of these reasons to give less the score. Maybe some witless fool thinks that Kate Winslet should have won the Best Actress Oscar for Titanic, instead of Helen Hunt. All these maybes yet it all comes down to one thing. Is the film enjoyable? Yes is the answer, it surpasses this goal with flying colours. That is why I simply cannot comprehend a feasible reason to why it is not given a decent rating.
Jack Nicholson is on supreme form. he uses the other actors like a drug addict uses cocaine, he sucks them in, he takes their surroundings and their feelings and gives a response or an expression that is brilliant, and that is so accurate that it is astonishing to think anyone could do this. It is a performance that is also hilarious, slow-paced yet a rather enlightening talent that makes me want to watch it over and over.
James 'The Simpsons' Brooks directs with flair too, as he doesn't aim for the heart-felt close ups or the excessive camera shots of their surroundings, like what James Cameron tended to do for Titanic, he simply shows the stars in their most basic forms moving around and doing what would normally be likened to a soap opera. And that is this films defining characteristic. It tries to give off an atmosphere that says this is reality, this is realistic and it does it fantastically, except for the prolonged breakdowns that Helen continually goes into. I think that is why I give it a nine. I think it is a great film, except for the seldom moments of unrealism mainly conveyed by the 1998 Best Actress Oscar . But overall I think Jack makes the film come alive, and that certainly makes for enjoyable viewing.