'You make me want to be a better man,' 
Rating: Null/10 (27 March 2004)

My comments will contain some SPOILERS, so anyone who hasn't yet seen this movie should not read past this paragraph. Jack Nicholson in 'As Good As It Gets' is just about as good as Nicholson gets, and this is a superb movie overall, smartly written and filmed. It is the kind of movie that is very good on first viewing, and is even better on subsequent viewings, after you know the basic story line.
Udall (Nicholson) is a successful author, but in his 'normal' life is not very normal at all -- an obsessive/compulsive personality, fastidious washing of hands with fresh bars of soap, bringing his own plastic ware to dine, avoiding touching others, and never stepping on a crack -- and nearly always managing to say exactly the wrong thing.
His neighbor is a gay artist (Kinnear) with a little dog. After a beating and hospitalization, going broke, and an unsuccessful road trip to ask his parents for money, Udall gives him a spare bedroom. His waitress is played by Hunt, who has a sickly boy, and Udall provides them with a good doctor, just so she can return to work and be his waitress. His grander motive is her companionship. Near the end, after her saying it would be best if she never saw him again, he went to see her anyway, they took a 4AM walk to the corner bakery, as the movie ends we see him stepping on the brick pavement -- 'cracks' -- and not minding. He was letting her help him become a better man.