Title: MOVIE REVIEW:
"As Good as It Gets": Grade: A: Starring Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt
and Greg Kinnear. Directed by James
L.: Brooks. Rated PG-13 for language and brief
violence. At Phipps Plaza.: Opens w
Date: 12/23/1997; Publication: The
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
12-23-1997
Some movies come gift-wrapped in their own reviews.
"As Good as It Gets" is precisely that ---about as good as it gets
when it comes to a funny, perceptive, sometimes poignant comedy-romance about
mixed-up Manhattanites (well, technically, two Manhattanites and a Brooklynite).
Let's start with Melvin Udall, a best-selling writer who stuffs a neighbor's
dog down a garbage chute and spews un-P.C. venom at anyone who turns up. Of
course, underneath all the misanthropic vitriol is a scared-silly
obsessive-compulsive who uses a bar of soap only once before throwing it away,
locks his door five times and avoids stepping on cracks in the sidewalk.
Because Melvin is played by Jack Nicholson, one can be reasonably certain that
he'll change and discover his inner . . . something. It's how that happens that
makes "As Good as It Gets" as good as it is. The initial catalyst is
the aforementioned pooch, which becomes Melvin's temporary guest after its
owner, a gay artist named Simon (Greg Kinnear) who's
received his share of Melvin's insults, is beaten by punks. Melvin
"volunteers" to help after Simon's art dealer and good buddy (an
underused Cuba Gooding Jr.) "volunteers" to
rearrange his face if he doesn't.
An even more important factor in Melvin's rehumanizing
is Carol (Helen Hunt), a waitress at the only restaurant to which Melvin will
venture. A single mom with a sickly son, she's a no-nonsense saint who pretty
much puts up with Melvin as long as he pretty much behaves himself. But even
she runs out of patience on occasion: "Do you have any control over how
creepy you allow yourself to get?" Writer-director James L. Brooks, who
has blessed us with everything from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and
"The Simpsons" to "Terms of
Endearment" and "Broadcast News," is a savvy humanist with a
humorist's ear. Not only can he make us believe that a curmudgeon would go all
gooey over a little dog, but he makes us laugh about it and then get all choked
up about it in the same scene.
Melvin is very much of a conceit ---too suddenly Santa to pass a reality check.
But with Nicholson in the role, it works. Nobody rants as well as Smilin' Jack; nobody charms like him either. Kinnear is also crucial. He takes
The film could use some trimming, and the age difference between Hunt and
Nicholson is a minor irritant (to his credit, Brooks initially thought she was
too young, but she was too good not to cast). But overall, "As Good as It
Gets" delivers the goods with style, wit and heart. Simon says early on,
"You look at someone long enough and you discover their humanity."
Brooks has been looking for a long time. It shows.
Copyright 1997, The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, All rights reserved.
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