As Good as It Gets

As Good as It Gets is a 1997 film which tells the story of an obsessive-compulsive, cantankerous, racist, homophobic writer named Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) who, because of his affective disorder, lives in a world that has shrunk to about the size of his apartment and the books he authors. Nevertheless, and despite himself, he befriends his regular waitress (Helen Hunt), a single mother, and his homosexual neighbour (Greg Kinnear). It is a romantic comedy played out among flawed people in an imperfect and postmodern world.

Primary cast

* Jack Nicholson : Melvin Udall
* Helen Hunt : Carol Connelly
* Greg Kinnear : Simon Bishop - Melvin's neighbour
* Cuba Gooding Jr. : Frank Sachs - an art dealer, and Simon's friend
* Shirley Knight : Beverly Connelly - Carol's mother
* Skeet Ulrich : Vincent Lopiano
* Yeardley Smith : Jackie Simpson
* Lupe Ontiveros : Nora Manning
* Jill the Dog: Verdell (trained by Mathilde DeCagny)
* Danielle Spencer: Veterinarian

Plot

Simon, an up-and-coming artist and neighbour to famous but antagonistic writer, Melvin Udall, is hospitalized after his home is burglarised and assaulted by a male model he had been painting. Simon's friend Frank, having nobody else to turn to, ends up demanding that Udall take care of Simon's dog, Verdell, while he is in the hospital.

This serves as a severe strain on Melvin who suffers from OCD and is able to cope only by leading a life of strict regularity, combined with an extremely rude, sarcastic, defensive attitiude that keeps others away. Ironically though, Melvin is a romance novel writer by profession.

Although Melvin's life is intolerably complicated by having to deal with the dog and its homosexual owner, he is drawn more and more out of his shell and into their lives, almost powerless under the influence of the amazing intelligence and sweetness of Verdell.

Simon returns from the hospital to his apartment to convalesce, and Melvin is distraught at the thought of giving up the dog which he had hated so intensely at first. Melvin is saved when Simon needs more time to regain full mobility and independence. Melvin agrees, begrudgingly, to watch the dog for a while longer, even while being internally thrilled at not losing his new companion.

Because Melvin is such a buffoon when it comes to social interaction, even when he attempts to be helpful to Simon, Simon takes it as hazing. Furthermore, as his most recent art show was an utter failure, Simon sinks into depression. To make matters worse, Verdell appears to prefer the gruff attention he gets from Melvin to the unending adoration Simon lavishes on him.

Eventually Simon, sinking deeper into despair as he continues trying to avoid facing the reality of his situation is the target of a veritable intervention, forcing him to confront having to give up his dreams, sell most of everything he owns, and most devastatingly to ask his parents, whom he has been estranged from for a very long time, for money.

Melvin (who has a good heart under the years of anal retentive rigidity) cannot stop from eventually becoming something like friends with Simon as he becomes more and more attached to Verdell, and as Simon's situation becomes progressively more desperate. Even so, he is stressed by the sudden disruption to his life and the many accommodations he is forced to make for Simon and Verdell. Eventually Melvin does attempt to give Verdell back to Simon, but the dog has grown to love Melvin and doesn't want to go back to Simon. Melvin tries to spare Simon's feelings by claiming the dog only likes Melvin because of the treats Melvin feeds him, but Simon can see that even his dog has abandoned him, and sinks even futher into despair.

Further challenging the comfortable regularity Melvin has built around himself, his regular waitress Carol, at the restaurant he eats lunch at daily, has left her job to take care of her chronically ill child. Melvin offers to pay for the medical care of the child, mostly of concern mostly for himself (in order to get her back to work so that he can continue with his routine), but also because Carol has been the only person in his life he feels some sort of connection with. While Melvin initially fights his growing friendship with Simon, he actively works to become a part of Carol's life.

The three of them end up going on a road trip to support Simon as he goes to face his parents. On the trip, Melvin feels threatened by Simon because of how well he instantly clicks with Carol. Being in competition with Simon for Carol's attention, combined with the stress of attempting to control his own emotions and social interactions with grace (which he has little) proves too much and he completely alienates Carol, who despite trying to keep him at arms length, had been finding herself starting to fall for him. The best example of this is when Carol threatens to leave because Melvin insults her dress. Melvin gets her to stay by conceding he took pills (and he hates pills) to help with his O.C.D. because she made him want to be a better man. Carol surprised by the flattery of the remarks, admits it was the best compliment she has ever received. However, Melvin ruins the moment by claiming he only invited her on the trip because he did not want Simon to hit on him.

Meanwhile, largely due to Carol's support, Simon ends up not only reconnecting with his parents but also having a breakthrough with his art, which he had been unable to even touch since the attack.

When the trio returns from the trip, still deeply hurt by Melvin, Carol tells him that she would like to never see him again.

By this time though, the three have been inexorably drawn into each other's lives; rather than see Simon turned onto the street, Melvin moves him into a spare room in his apartment. Simon tries to get Carol to give Melvin another chance but she refuses. Eventually Melvin becomes more and more miserable until Simon convinces him (feeling perhaps that Carol really does care for him and that they would be good together) that he must go and see her no matter what.

Upon his arrival at an inopportune time of the night and mostly because of her underlying but obvious attraction for him (even though she is fighting it), he gets her to listen to him. He makes a good case for himself using his charm and eloquence. He is even able to show his determination to make things work with her by intentionally stepping on the cracks in the sidewalk instead of avoiding them which was previously impossible for him because of his OCD. The film ends with them walking into an uncertain but potentially bright future.

Trivia

* The film features several cameos from writer/directors such as Shane Black of Lethal Weapon, as Helen Hunt's fed up boss, Harold Ramis (Caddyshack) as a caring doctor and Lawrence Kasdan (The Big Chill) as Jack Nicholson's stubborn psychiatrist.
* Skeet Ulrich was offered the role of Simon but was said to have declined. Ulrich later played the role of Vincent, the gay hustler who later robs Simon. To develop his character, Ulrich had Vincent fixated on Brad Pitt. According to Ulrich, Pitt approved for him to do so and simply instructed not to make him look foolish.
* On the road trip to Simon's parents in Baltimore, the party drives an NG Saab 900 convertible.
* The cable TV series Cinema Secrets revealed that Verdell's trick of gingerly stepping over cracks in the sidewalk was actually achived through special effects: small glass barriers were placed in the cracks, which the dog stepped over, then the barriers were digitally removed later.
* Kinnear's line to Hunt, that her beauty is "the reason why cavemen painted on walls," is historically dubious at best. Crude female figures were carved in prehistoric times, but of the surviving cave drawings, almost all depict animals and very few depict humans at all.
* While the film's title makes it sound like a feel-good comedy, within the context of the film, the line is actually quite grim: Melvin, desperate to get his mental illness under control, turns to a group of troubled-looking people in a psychiatric waiting room and asks them, "What if this is as good as it gets?"

Awards won

* Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
* Academy Award for Best Actor (Jack Nicholson)
* Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Jack Nicholson)
* Academy Award for Best Actress (Helen Hunt)
* Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Helen Hunt)

Award nominations

* Academy Award for Best Picture
* Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Greg Kinnear)
* Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture (Greg Kinnear)
* Golden Globe Award for Best Director - Motion Picture (James L. Brooks)
* Academy Award for Film Editing (Richard Marks)
* Academy Award for Original Music Score (Hans Zimmer)
* Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay (Mark Andrus & James L. Brooks)
* Golden Globe Award for Writing Original Screenplay (Mark Andrus & James L. Brooks)

External links

*James L. Brooks interview