Jack Nicholson hasn’t performed in a film in ten years. At his peak and even in his last projects, Nicholson was/is considered to be one of the greatest living actors of all time. He’s a mega star in every sense and though he hasn’t been around as of late, some of his best work is still available, streaming, and ready to be enjoyed. As Good as It Gets is one in particular that never gets old. In addition to Nicholson, he’s joined by veteran actors Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear and Cuba Gooding Jr. in one of the most unorthodox stories ever made into a film.
Nicholson plays Melvin, an OCD antisocial author who lives across the hall from his gay neighbour Simon (Kinnear) who he constantly ridicules. Apart from their interactions, he regularly speaks with Carol (Hunt), a waitress of the restaurant he frequents and whose son has unrelenting medical issues. As usual, Melvin is cruel and abrasive to just about everyone he comes into contact with. This begins to change when Simon is assaulted to the point of near disfigurement. Soon after an odd friendship begins to take place between the three as a result of the aftermath, spawning an eventual change in Melvin’s behaviour and outlook on life. James L. Brooks produces and directs this film that within a few years will take its place on the shelf next to the rest of cinema’s classics.
As Good as It Gets is unequivocally an actors’ movie. The performances accommodate the writing to indescribable adeptness.
As Good as It Gets is unequivocally an actors’ movie. The performances accommodate the writing to indescribable adeptness. Nicholson completely nails what it means to visibly suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder. His approach to the condition is at times hysterical, while other moments he displays the sad actuality of it. Kinnear’s chops come into focus playing up and down at levels of suffering, depression, contentedness, and an eventual realization of coming change. Then of course there’s Helen Hunt as Carol, whose outing is real, touching, and poignant. Hunt portrays the true nature of single motherhood and the stress it can bring from raising a child alone, an experience many women are unfortunately all too familiar with. Cuba Gooding Jr. also has plenty of comedic periods to keep the movie from taking itself too seriously.
Yes certainly the actors knocked it down, but it was the writers that set it up. From the moment the film starts it’s a laughing fest, though eventually it morphs into a story that is heartfelt and encompassing of what it truly means to trust in other human beings. Movies like this have it all, and they don’t come around but once every few decades or so. It’s unclear if whether or not Jack Nicholson is absolutely done with making movies, but films like As Good as It Gets make him missed and longed for. From the second he entered the scene he was a hit. In the event he decides not to return, at least there’re gems like this to go back to whenever he comes to mind.
