Grumpy Old Man

Rating: 7/10 (27 October 2013)

Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) is a romance novel writer who has problems. He bullies his gay neighbor Simon Bishop (Greg Kinnear). In fact, the first thing he does in the movie is to shove Simon's dog down the garbage chute. He's a petty angry horrible man suffering some OCD. He has to eat at the restaurant where Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt) works as his personal waitress. She's a tough woman trying to get by with a sick child. When Simon is attacked in his home, Melvin is left to take care of the dog.
Of course he learns to accept other people. He falls Carol and she saves him from a bitter lonely life. That's the basic storyline and director James L. Brooks adds the colors of a memorable performance by Jack Nicholson. Nicholson is definitely tapping into his sly mean-spirited self. Some of his action is funny, but a lot of it is too angry. I wish he had more vulnerability at the start to allow the audience to root for him.
Helen Hunt is obviously way too young for Jack Nicholson. But there is something about Jack that he can certainly get a woman that age in real life. It's Helen Hunt that doesn't really fit. She isn't really the MPDG type. She seems to be too smart to get involved with that mess. Although it makes for a good movie.