Nitpicking but

Rating: Null/10 (10 March 2001)

I've seen this movie several times now and enjoy it more with each viewing. Nicholson lives to play these types of characters, so no suprise there. Hunt is good, but not great. The suprise is just how good Kinnear is as an actor.
In a movie with a level of detail that we're reminded each time Melvin steps on a crack, none of the other characters want to know Melvin's story. What's up with that? He's dying to tell it in the car ride to Baltimore, but isn't given the chance aside from mentioning small snippets of his father's dysfunction that are immediately interrupted by the others (perhaps Jack did have a soliloquy in that scene but it ended up on the cutting room floor). Maybe its just me, but if I found a wacko like Melvin helping me and becoming a friend, I'd want to know his story. Granted neither Carol's nor Simon's stories are elaborated upon, but they're stereotypical characters and not the central focus of the movie anyway. Melvin's a certifiable crazy who's a bestselling romance(?) author and pianist to boot. I just wish this hole in the script was filled. 8/10.