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As Good As It Gets (1997)

tomatometer

86

Average Rating: 7.2/10
Reviews Counted: 76
Fresh: 65 | Rotten: 11

James L. Brooks and Jack Nicholson, doing what they do best, combine smart dialogue and flawless acting to squeeze fresh entertainment value out of the romantic-comedy genre.

90

Average Rating: 7.3/10
Critic Reviews: 21
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 2

James L. Brooks and Jack Nicholson, doing what they do best, combine smart dialogue and flawless acting to squeeze fresh entertainment value out of the romantic-comedy genre.

audience

81

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 352,188

My Rating

Movie Info

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

Unrated, 2 hr. 19 min.

Drama, Romance, Comedy

Mark Andrus, James L. Brooks

May 19, 1998

TriStar Pictures

Cast

All Critics (77) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (65) | Rotten (11) | DVD (13)

A sporadically funny romantic comedy with all the dramatic plausibility and tonal consistency of a TV variety show.

July 2, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Romance comedies definitely come better than this, although perhaps not lately.

April 12, 2002 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
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It's fun to watch Jack Nicholson draw on great reservoirs of bile to play a mean SOB with an obsessive-compulsive disorder.

February 14, 2001 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | Comment
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It's a mark of how magically written, directed and acted As Good as It Gets is that we end up loving this film despite knowing how haphazard, scattershot and almost indefinable its charm is.

February 14, 2001 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Part of the appeal of this comedy is that Melvin's transformation never gets sappy.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The film is hugely entertaining.

January 1, 2000 Comment
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Funny, but not a light comedy for youngsters.

January 2, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

The greatest pleasures come from the acting.

March 29, 2009 Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | Comment
TheMovieReport.com

The movie's too long, and the direction is sometimes slack -- but the script is crammed with withering ripostes, ably delivered by Nicholson and Hunt.

September 3, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Not only one of the best romantic comedies of the year, but one of the best films in ages.

December 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | Comment
Dark Horizons

The trouble lies in the rambling narrative, Brooks' cautious direction and the cosy tone which renders the whole thing reminiscent of an extended sitcom.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Both funny and sad, the comedy was in the vein of Brooks' Terms of Endearment, except it was more eccentric and nuttier and in moments genuinely touching due to strong chemistry between Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt.

February 24, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

An inflated TV show by a sitcom creator.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: F5 (Wichita, KS) | Comment

The character is written as the most unlikable person one could ever meet. Despite this fact, Jack manages to make the character sympathetic.

December 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat | Comment
Film Threat

The unpredictable and fresh 'As Good As It Gets' is peppered with memorable Brooks lines and physical schtick.

May 28, 2005 Full Review | Comment

Mildly likable.

April 9, 2005 Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | Comment
Reeling Reviews

...a precariously balanced movie, one that flirts with smugness. That it isn't awful is in some respects amazing.

January 27, 2005 Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | Comment
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

... it coaxes us to be more open to each other, more compassionate, and more loving.

December 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Looking Closer | Comment
Looking Closer

Like Broadcast News, James L. Brooks' new film is a dark-edged adult comedy that hits the spot for those who like their romances splashed with acidic wit.

June 25, 2004 Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) | Comment

Even the familiar scenes and situations look refreshing.

January 8, 2004 Full Review | Comment
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Humorous, romantic, personal.

February 8, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Quips Online | Comment
Film Quips Online

Perhaps, though, it is Carol's (and Hunt's) ongoing commitment to emotional honesty and fair play that make it increasingly difficult to ignore the film's encroaching patterns of sentimentality and uninspired developments.

January 10, 2003 Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks | Comment
Nick's Flick Picks

An honest, original comedy about recognizable human beings.

October 15, 2002 Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer | Comment
Cincinnati Enquirer

This is Jack at his best, the kind of role that makes him a star. He gets to bear his teeth, take control of a room, and be devilishly cuddly at the same time.

October 11, 2002 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for As Good As It Gets

The way I see it, this film holds Jack Nicholson's most stellar delivery yet. He proves that he can use the same straightforward personality he did in films such as ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST and THE SHINING, whilst successfully adding in an original, comedic taste. In more than just one scene, his character

July 19, 2011
spielberg00
Alexander Diminiano

Super Reviewer

Jack Nicholson aces as an OCD asshole in this romantic comedy that could have been better had it been shorter by at least 20 minutes. And it was easily possible in this case without losing its effectiveness (IMO, of course). Unfortunately, owing to this factor alone, its appeal gets a bit limited and I guess that those

January 10, 2009
imrealgod

Super Reviewer

    1. Melvin Udall: People who talk in metaphors ought to shampoo my crotch.
    – Submitted by Kamila J (11 days ago)
    1. Melvin Udall: If I go over there, she might kill me!
    2. Simon Bishop: Well then put on your jammies , and I'll read you a story.
    – Submitted by Michael S (31 days ago)
    1. Melvin Udall: I might be the only person on the face of the earth that knows you're the greatest woman on Earth. I might be the only one who appreciates how amazing you are in every single thing that you do, and how you are with Spencer, 'Spence,' and in every single thought that you have, and how you say what you mean, and how you almost always mean something that's all about being straight and good. I think most people miss that about you, and I watch them, wondering how they can watch you bring their food, and clear their tables and never get that they just met the greatest woman alive. And the fact that I get it makes me feel good, about me.
    – Submitted by gagan g (47 days ago)
    1. Melvin Udall: Police! Donut-munching morons, HELP ME! HELP ME!
    – Submitted by Filipe M (4 months ago)
    1. Melvin Udall: You make me want to be a better man.
    – Submitted by Chris P (9 months ago)

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Latest News for As Good As It Gets

May 10, 2005:
Helen Hunt to Write, Direct, and Star in Longtime Pet Project
Oscar-winner Helen Hunt ("As Good As It Gets"), after a four-year absence from the silver...

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