 |
 |
 |
| AS GOOD AS IT GETS 1997 - USA - 138 min. - Feature, Color Director -James L. Brooks Studio -Columbia TriStar Home Video |
| Genre/Type -Romance, Comedy Drama, Romantic Comedy, Urban Comedy Flags -Substance Abuse (Alcohol, Drugs), Violence, Adult Language, Adult Humor, Adult Situations, Not For Children MPAA Rating -PG13 Keywords -artist, dog, friendship, homosexual, love, love-triangle, waiter Set In -USA Sound by -Dolby/SDDS Produced by -Gracie Films / Sony Pictures Entertainment / TriStar DVD Street Date -May 20, 1998 Languages -English, French Subtitles -English, French, Spanish Screen Formats Letterbox for 16x9 TVs, Pan & Scan for TVs Sound DDDD2 Aspect Ratio -1.85:1 (Original) 1.85:1/1.33:1 (DVD) Features -English two-channel or 5.1 [Dolby Digital] / Additional language: French / Subtitles: English, Spanish, French / Scene selections / Widescreen and full-screen formats / Commentary track Cast Jack Nicholson -- Melvin Udall Helen Hunt -- Carol Connelly Greg Kinnear -- Simon Bishop Cuba Gooding, Jr. -- Frank Sachs Skeet Ulrich -- Vincent Shirley Knight -- Beverly Yeardley Smith -- Jackie Lupe Ontiveros -- Nora Leslie Stefanson -- Cafe Waitress Jamie Kennedy -- Street Hustler Jesse James -- Spencer Connelly Harold Ramis -- Dr. Betz Wood Harris |
| Plot Synopsis James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News) directed this $50 million-plus romantic comedy, set in Manhattan. Dysfunctional, acid-tongued romance novelist Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), who suffers from an obsessive-compulsive disorder, takes pride in his ability to offend. At a nearby cafe, the only waitress willing to stand up to his sarcastic tirades is Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt), a single mother struggling to raise her chronically asthmatic son. In Melvin's West Village apartment building, talented contemporary artist Simon Nye (Greg Kinnear) lives across the hall from Melvin. Simon is the current darling of the New York art world, reason enough to draw Melvin's verbal fire, but Simon's gay lifestyle is further grist for the novelist's malicious mill. These three New Yorkers, none of whom appears to have a chance in hell at finding true happiness, discover their fates intertwined because of the fourth complicated character in the piece, Verdell, a tiny Brussels Griffon dog (played by newcomer Jill, after a 15-week training program). Melvin seems to have no friends or family, and he lives alone, working on his 62nd book. When Simon goes into the hospital after a brutal mugging, Melvin has to take care of Verdell, and the dog actually warms Melvin's cold heart � to the degree that he sets up unsolicited medical care for Carol's son. Eventually, Melvin is cornered into driving Simon and Carol to Baltimore, and during a hotel stopover, Melvin confesses to Carol, "You make me want to be a better man." The trip becomes an odyssey of self-realization for all three. Locations included Brooklyn's Prospect Park (Carol's neighborhood) and Greenwich Village (where Melvin's building is on 12th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues). Other exteriors were shot in downtown Los Angeles, where a dilapidated transient hotel at the corner of 4th Street and Main was transformed into the chic cafe where Carol works. Sets for the Simon/Melvin apartment interiors were erected on a soundstage at the Sony Pictures lot. Simon's paintings were created for the film by New York artist Billy Sullivan, whose work is part of the modern art collection at NYC's Metropolitian Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art. � Bhob Stewart Reviews Matthew Doberman, AMG |
|
| Rarely does a character's emotional transformation translate with as convincing sincerity as it does with As Good As It Gets' curmudgeonly Melvin Udall, played to perfection by Jack Nicholson. Mark Andrus and director James L. Brooks' bitterly funny and surprisingly touching script was tailored to Nicholson; he won his third Oscar as the lovable misanthrope. Helen Hunt broke out of the TV-sitcom ghetto with her Oscar-winning turn as a bittersweet, beleaguered waitress and single mom. Rounding out the circle of improbable friends, Greg Kinnear provides effortless work as the gay neighbor who provides an important role in Melvin's unlikely transformation. Ultimately, what makes the film succeed is its careful mix of laughs, melodrama and romance: the jokes always relate to the characters' development, and the more serious moments never devolve into sentimental treacle. � Matthew Doberman Jack Garner Dec. 25, 1997 Democrat and Chronicle |
 |
| Just when we begin to worry that wily veteran Jack Nicholson has learned how to phone in movie performances, he gives us a performance that's as good as it gets. And just when we begin to hunger for a romantic comedy that's offbeat and refreshingly original, along comes one that's as good as it gets. Maybe that's why they had nerve to call the film As Good As It Gets. Nicholson stars as Melvin Udall, a mean-spirited, acid-tongued novelist who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. He carries his own silverware into restaurants, locks his apartment door five times a night, never steps on a sidewalk crack, and has a cruel word for just about everyone he encounters. Melvin is also obsessed about his routine, so he strolls each morning to the same restaurant where he sits at the same table and orders the same breakfast. And he's lucky, because although nearly everyone in the place hates this often-despicable man, waitress Carol Connelly grudgingly agrees to serve him. She's somehow fascinated by his many eccentricities and even seems to sense some strange spark of decency lurking deep behind his mask of irascibility. Carol (Helen Hunt) also has her problems, trying as a single mother to care for her seriously asthmatic boy. Meanwhile, a gay painter Simon Nye (Greg Kinnear) lives with his small, scruffy-looking dog, Verdell, across the hall from Melvin. Simon tries to be civil to his neighbor, even if Melvin has nothing but distaste for gays and dogs. Despite the potential for bile with such a lead character, Nicholson and writer/director James L. Brooks manage to make Melvin strangely engaging and ultimately likable. As the character becomes drawn into Simon and Carol's lives and problems, they gradually see hope for the man -- and so do we. And, fortunately, all that redemption is delivered with a ton of robust humor and only the tiniest bit of sentimentality. In that sense, As Good as It Gets more closely resembles the tone of Brooks' previous hit, Broadcast News, more than another, overly sympathetic, Oscar-winning Brooks saga, Terms of Endearment. Nicholson offers his most complicated, infinitely subtle performance since his great films of the '60s and '70s. He's hilariously sarcastic, a little scary, surprisingly sympathetic, and occasionally obnoxious; he manages to roll all those characteristics into a seamless, well-rounded role. Hunt is also excellent: She can make us believe in a woman who is strong and self-reliant, but who can also find something in Melvin worth salvaging. And Kinnear rounds out the lead cast with his best work to date. Though he flirts early with the swishy stereotype of a gay man, he matures nicely in the performance, creating a character with the strength to stand up to Melvin. Cuba Gooding Jr., Shirley Knight and Skeet Ulrich round out the supporting cast -- and each gets a memorable moment or two. But Gooding seems somewhat wasted on the heels of his electrifying Oscar-winning turn in Jerry Maguire. It's not easy to summarize the goings-on in As Good As It Gets, because the sum of the movie offers more than the parts of its plots. Suffice to say, Nicholson and company will get your attention, make you laugh -- a lot -- and move you. Mostly, though, you'll be reminded of why Nicholson became one of the biggest stars of his generation. Awards 1997 -Academy Best Actor (win) -Jack Nicholson Best Actress (win) -Helen Hunt Best Film Editing (nom) -Richard Marks - Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (nom) -Hans Zimmer Best Original Screenplay (nom) -Mark Andrus/James L. Brooks Best Picture (nom) Best Supporting Actor (nom) -Greg Kinnear 1997 -Golden Globe Best Actor in Musical or Comedy Picture (win) -Jack Nicholson Best Actress in Musical or Comedy Picture (win) -Helen Hunt Best Director (nom) -James L. Brooks Best Musical or Comedy Picture (win) Best Screenplay (nom) -James L. Brooks/Mark Andrus Best Supporting Actor (nom) -Greg Kinnear Other Awards Best Actor (win) -Jack Nicholson -1997 -Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Director (nom) -James L. Brooks -1997 -Directors Guild of America |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |