This movie truly is "As Good As It Gets"

Rating: Null/10 (25 February 2000)

This movie truly is "As Good As It Gets". Outstanding acting, bizarre, yet amazing plot, this movie has got it all! Jack Nicholson plays a marvelous role as Melvin Udall, a seemingly cruel, middle-aged man, who is a successful romantic storywriter. Melvin is extremely rude to his neighbours, especially to his gay neighbour Simon Bishop, played by Greg Kinnear. Greg is a remarkable actor in this film. In fact, Greg was nominated for best supporting actor, along with Nicholson for best actor and Helen Hunt for best actress. The film was nominated for best picture and best screenplay for the 1997 Academy Awards. Greg plays the role of a gay artist who is mugged while working in his home studio. During his recuperation he has to leave his dog in the hands of his spiteful neighbour. In Simon's absence an unlikely friendship grows between Melvin and his neighbour's dog. The story unfolds to show that this uncaring man can indeed have feelings for another being, in this case the dog. You also see that Melvin has feelings for someone other than the dog. He has a daily routine of going to a restaurant. He orders the same meal by the same waitress everyday. One day the waitress, Carol Connelly, played by Helen Hunt, misses work because of her son's illness. Melvin refuses to eat until Carol returns to work. He can't live out his daily routine without Carol. He finds that he needs her. He pays for a home doctor for Carol's son to get Carol back at work. But this only scares her. Eventually they all learn to love one another. The directing in this movie was reasonable. The director was James L. Brooks. This movie is a bit better than other movie that he has directed, such as I'll Do Anything (1994), Broadcast News (1987) and Terms of Endearment (1983). The plot of this movie is interesting. It is believable, but not likely to happen. As Good As It Gets is an original film. No film I know is similar to it at all. I doubt there is any chance of any sequel to this movie. The sound in the movie isn't really noticeable in the film. However, perhaps that is fine. If the sound were out of place, possibly it would have been more noticeable. That would be unpleasant. One sequence in this film that struck me as outstanding was when Nicholson went to the doctor for help. He had what is called obsessive-compulsive disorder. The doctor refuses to help him because he made no appointment. On his way out he passes through the waiting room. He stops and turns to everyone and say "Have you ever thought what if this is as good as it gets?" I figure that was a turning point in his life. He realizes that life might not get any better and he should live it to its fullest. The photography and camera angles contributed to this scene to make it perfect. The movie was filmed in California, Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York. It was noticeable that the movie was filmed in New York, because the location on scenes looked like New York. One scene in the movie had exceptional make-up. The scene where you see Melvin's neighbour Greg in the hospital after he is mugged. He is so bruised up. It looked so real. In the movie when Nicholson was walking on the sidewalk he would always make sure he didn't step on the cracks. This was because of his obsessive-compulsive disorder. He did this every time he went out. Eventually after taking his neighbour's dog out with him the dog started to do the same. This is considered a stunt. The stunt crew created a thin string fence above each crack in the sidewalk. The string fence was not visible to the viewer, but the dog would have to step over the string when walking over a crack. However nothing that occurred was that dangerous to warrant a major stunt scene. The editing in this movie was done fairly well. There are no noticeable mistakes. I'm sure special effects were used, but none were obvious in the movie. As Good As It Gets was produced and directed by James L. Brooks. Tristar Pictures financed and distributed the film. The film was successful.
As Good As It Gets is a good comedy, has a good love story and great acting. It is not that much of a convincing movie, however it has wonderful writing and acting. It's a movie I would recommend.