As Good As It Gets (1997)
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.
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 3
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.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 352,188
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
Dec 23, 1997 Wide
May 19, 1998
TriStar Pictures
Watch It Now
Cast
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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 -
Jesse James
Spencer Connelly -
Harold Ramis
Dr. Betz -
Jamie Kennedy
Street Hustler -
Leslie Stefanson
Cafe Waitress -
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All Critics (77) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (65) | Rotten (11) | DVD (16)
A sporadically funny romantic comedy with all the dramatic plausibility and tonal consistency of a TV variety show.
Top CriticThe trouble lies in the rambling narrative, Brooks' cautious direction and the cosy tone which renders the whole thing reminiscent of an extended sitcom.
Romance comedies definitely come better than this, although perhaps not lately.
It's fun to watch Jack Nicholson draw on great reservoirs of bile to play a mean SOB with an obsessive-compulsive disorder.
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.
The movie succeeds at many moments even while pursuing its doomed grand design.
Funny, but not a light comedy for youngsters.
The greatest pleasures come from the acting.
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.
Not only one of the best romantic comedies of the year, but one of the best films in ages.
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.
An inflated TV show by a sitcom creator.
The character is written as the most unlikable person one could ever meet. Despite this fact, Jack manages to make the character sympathetic.
The unpredictable and fresh 'As Good As It Gets' is peppered with memorable Brooks lines and physical schtick.
Mildly likable.
...a precariously balanced movie, one that flirts with smugness. That it isn't awful is in some respects amazing.
... it coaxes us to be more open to each other, more compassionate, and more loving.
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.
Even the familiar scenes and situations look refreshing.
Humorous, romantic, personal.
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.
An honest, original comedy about recognizable human beings.
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.
Nicholson is so darn good!
Audience Reviews for As Good As It Gets
Super Reviewer
It's a touching romantic comedy that balances itself properly right in between being energetic and schmultsy. Nicholson is fantastic in his role as Melvin and the same goes for the supporting cast. The direction is near solid but at time's bumbling and unnatural. It's a bit to lengthy but As Good as it Gets is a tremendously entertaining rom com of a high quality.
Super Reviewer
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- Melvin Udall: People who talk in metaphors oughta shampoo my crotch.
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- Melvin Udall: Some of us have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes, with boats, and friends, and noodle salad. Just no one in this car. But, a lot of people, that's their story; good times, noodle salad. What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good.
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- Melvin Udall: Well, I work all the time. So never interrupt me. Not if there's a fire. Not even if you hear the sound of a thud coming from my home and a week later, there's a smell that can only be a decaying human body and you have to put a hanky up to your nose because the smell is so bad, you think you're gonna faint. Even then don't come knocking. Or, if it's election night, and you're excited and you wanna celebrate because some fudge packer you date has become the first queer president of the United States and he's going to have you down to Camp David, and you want someone to share the moment with. Even then, don't knock, not on this door. Not for any reason. Do you get me, sweetheart?
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- Melvin Udall: I had to see you.
- Carol Connelly: Because?
- Melvin Udall: It relaxes me. I'd feel better sitting outside your apartment on the curb than any other place I can think of or imagine.
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- Jackie: How do you write women so well?
- Melvin Udall: I think of a man. And I take away reason and accountability.
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- Melvin Udall: Sell crazy someplace else. We're all stocked up here!
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Movie: ID: 12971 Title: As Good As It Gets Release Date: 1997-12-23 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 3 Status: 1
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