As Good As It Gets

Rating: *** 1/2
Date Seen: 1998-02-28

I finally gave in to all the recommendations from friends, critics, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I decided I had to see As Good As It Gets. Actually, I think the impression it made has grown in the hours after seeing it. Upon first walking out of the theater, I was like, "Ok, the acting was excellent, the screenplay was interesting, and the movie held my attention, but is that all there is?" The ending seemed odd, incomplete. Maybe that was the point.

Jack Nicholson plays Melvin, a grouchy writer with a negative comment for everyone and a phobia of stepping on cracks in the sidewalk. Each day, he eats at the local diner, bringing his own plastic silverware. He will only accept food from one waitress, Carol (Helen Hunt), who tolerates his brash antics.

He also gets into conflicts with his gay neighbor Simon (Greg Kinnear), and reluctantly ends up babysitting Simon's dog while Simon is hospitalized from being beaten up during a burglary. During this time, Melvin develops an attachment to the dog, and we see how truly lonely his life is when it's time for the dog (whose name I forget) to go back home.

I won't spoil the rest of the plot. This was a good movie which got me thinking for a while, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in examining human relationships.