Wonderful

Rating: 10/10 (6 April 2005)

There are so many great things about this film that it's hard to list them all. First is an intelligent script. There's great dialogue in this film, reminiscent of the best of the 30's, e.g. The Thin Man series.
A great script is no good without great people to deliver it, and this movie was perfectly cast. Here we see the true star quality of Helen Hunt. There are few actors who can share a screen with Jack Nicholson and have the audience watch them instead of Jack, but she is one. Greg Kinnear is flawless as the artist neighbor, and does a spot-on Nicholson impression,too. Cuba Gooding, fresh from Jerry Maguire, is superb in a small supporting role. Harold Ramis as the doctor and Shirley Knight as Helen's mom are, as ever, perfect. Even Skeet Ulrich, playing a thoroughly detestable character, does a great job.
As Good As It Gets is more character study than romantic comedy, although there are certainly plenty of laughs. There are also plenty of tears, and just plain pangs of sympathy. See this film.