# As Good As It Gets (1997)

### reviewed by
Jeff Walters

    **As Good As It Gets**
    Reviewed by Jeff Walters

Is this movie as good as it gets this year? Well, no - I still think Titanic and L.A. Confidential have this movie beat, but damn this is one hell of a good flick. Much like the theme of a Seinfeld episode this is a movie about nothing. Simply the story of three people, how they react to each other and make it from one day to the next.

Jack Nicholson plays the compulsive obsessive....er....obessive compulsive romance novelist, Melvin, who is the 'King of the Put-down'. Let's face it, we all have come across a Melvin type person in our lives. He's the kind of person you spend weeks bitching about after first meeting. That special kind of person for whom you'd swerve across four lanes of traffic just to get the chance to run down. A real nice guy.

Underneath the crusty exterior though is a kind man who simply acts the way he does because he lacks the social skills to relate to 99.9% of society. One person in that slim 0.1% catergory who Melvin finds intruiging is Christine (Helen Hunt) - a waitress in his favourite local diner. The rest of the staff hates him and the boss wants him banned, but Christine is able to see beneath the mask and recognize Melvin for what he is......most of the time. The third person in this unlikely trio is gay artist, Simon (played by Greg Kinear).

The acting is simply superb. It is a very rare thing when other actors can keep up with Jack Nicholson in a movie, but in my opinion Hunt and Kinear both not only match his pace - but even exceed him. Nicholson is still brilliant though, I can't imagine anyone else playing this role. It's just so him. Greg Kinear, who's only other major role was in the recent re-make of Sabrina, exhibits such character as the absolutely down and out artist who can't seem to get a lucky break. Cuba Gooding Jr. is a lot of fun as Kinear's over protective agent who makes Melvin cower at the slightest glare. His effect on Nicholson is truly hilarious - turns the crusty old man into jello at will.

It is Hunt, however, who steals the show. A truly staggeringly engaging performance in creating a character totaly unlike her Mad About You, Jamie. If she had lost the Best Actress in the Oscars it would have been an absolute crime. Being a Titanic fanatic (whoa, say that three times) it's hard for me not to say Kate Winslet should get it, but Helen Hunt is just too good. In her first real movie role (in Twister she was buried behind the FX) she just blows away all comers. A very talented and passionate person.

The fourth main star in As Good As It Gets is the script. The dialogue is original and witty - the jokes are all thoughtful and clever, not just cheap jibes or obvious come-backs. The put-downs written for Melvin are instant classics - each is crafted to completely deflate it's target. As someone who likes to stick it to certain people myself - I had to love them ;) Don't think, though, that this is a pure comedy - it's not. It is a powerful movie, with moving moments and performances mixed together with a well-scripted comedy. Not a movie that's easy to place in any one genre.

For me - the romance angle between Melvin and Christine doesn't quitesit right. Nothing I can really put my finger on, but somehow it's hard to picture the two characters together romantically.

Anyway, if you haven't seen this movie - then I strongly recommend doing so before it is banished to video. It's the best comedy/drama of the past year and one of the best I've seen period.

    5 out of 5 stars

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