As Good As It Gets
| Year: | 1997 |
| Director: | James L Brooks |
| Cast: | Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr, Skeet Ulrich, Yeardley Smith |
After spending most of the 1990's lost in a wilderness of mediocre roles in unimpressive movies, this is the film that put jack Nicholson on the map, marked a career resurgence for Helen Hunt as a drama/comedy star and introduced Greg Kinnear to the world.
James L Brooks modern fable follows Melvin Udall (Nicholson), a reclusive and grumpy writer who lives in a Manhattan apartment building writing bestsellers and trying to live with obsessive compulsive disorder.
He falls in love with a waitress at the café where he has lunch (Hunt) in the only gruff way he can, and his former enemy, his gay artists neighbour Simon (Kinnear) turns to him for help after a break in that threatens to cost his home.
Melvin starts by looking after Simon's dog, and ends up taking the three of them on a road trip upstate to meet Simon's parents, forming a very unlikely bond along the way.
Sweet and funny, more notable for the star performances than the movie. Harold Ramis is uncredited as the doctor Melvin engages to look at Hunt's son.
James L Brooks modern fable follows Melvin Udall (Nicholson), a reclusive and grumpy writer who lives in a Manhattan apartment building writing bestsellers and trying to live with obsessive compulsive disorder.
He falls in love with a waitress at the café where he has lunch (Hunt) in the only gruff way he can, and his former enemy, his gay artists neighbour Simon (Kinnear) turns to him for help after a break in that threatens to cost his home.
Melvin starts by looking after Simon's dog, and ends up taking the three of them on a road trip upstate to meet Simon's parents, forming a very unlikely bond along the way.
Sweet and funny, more notable for the star performances than the movie. Harold Ramis is uncredited as the doctor Melvin engages to look at Hunt's son.