As Good As It Gets [WS]

Director: James L. Brooks James L. Brooks

Overview

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 building, talented contemporary artist Simon Nye (Greg Kinnear) lives across the hall from Melvin. Simon is the current darling of the New York art world, reason enough to draw Melvin's verbal fire, but Simon's gay lifestyle is further grist for the novelist's malicious mill. These three New Yorkers, none of whom appears to have a chance in hell at finding true happiness, discover their fates intertwined because of the fourth complicated character in the piece, Verdell, a tiny Brussels Griffon dog (played by newcomer Jill, after a 15-week training program). Melvin seems to have no friends or family, and he lives alone, working on his 62nd book. When Simon goes into the hospital after a brutal mugging, Melvin has to take care of Verdell, and the dog actually warms Melvin's cold heart -- to the degree that he sets up unsolicited medical care for Carol's son. Eventually, Melvin is cornered into driving Simon and Carol to Baltimore, and during a hotel stopover, Melvin confesses to Carol, "You make me want to be a better man." The trip becomes an odyssey of self-realization for all three. Locations included Brooklyn's Prospect Park (Carol's neighborhood) and Greenwich Village (where Melvin's building is on 12th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues). Other exteriors were shot in downtown Los Angeles, where a dilapidated transient hotel at the corner of 4th Street and Main was transformed into the chic cafe where Carol works. Sets for the Simon/Melvin apartment interiors were erected on a soundstage at the Sony Pictures lot. Simon's paintings were created for the film by New York artist Billy Sullivan, whose work is part of the modern art collection at NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/20/1998
UPC:	0043396217096
Original Release:	1997
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	SONY PICTURES
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:19:00

Special Features

Scene selections; Commentary track

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

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
Ross Bleckner	Carl
Lawrence Kasdan	Dr Green
Harold Ramis	Dr Bettes
Brian Doyle-Murray	Mejsterkowicz John
Jesse James	Spencer Connelly
Maya Rudolph	Policjantka
John F. O'Donohue	Detektyw Ray
Bibi Osterwald	S¿siadka
Bernadette Balagtas	Pracownica firmy kateringowej
Jaffe Cohen	Imprezowicz
Laurie Kilpatrick	Imprezowiczka
Alice Vaughn	Imprezowiczka
Kristi Zea	Matka przy stole
Annie Maginnis Tippe	Córka przy stole
Patricia Childress	Kelnerka w barze ca¿odobowym
Rebekah Johnson	Kelnerka w barze ca¿odobowym
Missi Pyle	Kelnerka w barze ca¿odobowym
Leslie Stefanson	Kelnerka w barze ca¿odobowym
Tara Subkoff	Kelnerka w barze ca¿odobowym
Shane Black	Brian, kierownik baru ca¿odobowego
Peter Jacobson	M¿¿czyzna przy stole
Lisa Edelstein	Kobieta przy stole
Stan Bly	Actor
Randall Batinkoff	Actor
Jamie Kennedy	Street Hustler
Justin Herwick	Actor
David A. Kipper	Actor
Mary Elizabeth Still	Actor
Chloe Brooks	Actor,Actor
Sharon L. Alexander	Actor
Holly Denys	Actor
Alison Rose	Actor
Kathryn Morris	Actor
Wood Harris	Actor
Linda Gehringer	Actor
Julie Benz	Actor
Antonia Jones	Actor
Kaitlin Hopkins	Actor
Jimmy Workman	Actor
Danielle Spencer	Actor
Todd Solondz	Actor
Tom McGowan	Actor
Danielle Brisebois	Actor
Matt Malloy	Actor
Paul Greenberg	Actor
Kirk Ringberg	Actor
Dave Hawthorne	Actor
Jill the Dog	Verdell,Supporting Dog,Supporting Dog
Maurice LaMarche	Voices,Fred Bishop - Simon's Dad on Phone
Hans Zimmer	Composer

Technical Credits

James L. Brooks

Mark Andrus

James L. Brooks	Director,Screenwriter,Producer
Mark Andrus	Screenwriter
Bridget Johnson	Producer
Kristi Zea	Producer
Laurence Mark	Executive Producer,Producer
Richard Sakai	Executive Producer,Producer
Laura Ziskin	Executive Producer,Producer
William Doane	Special Effects,Special Effects
Ken Fritz	Stunts
Richard Marks	Producer
Francine Maisler	Casting
John D. Schofield	Producer
Walter Scott	Stunts
BJ Davis	Stunts
Ron Bartlett	Sound Effects
George Campos	Sound Effects
Matt Colleran	Sound Effects
Don Coufal	Sound Effects
Dennis Drummond	Sound Effects
Harold McConnell Jr.	Special Effects
Maria Kavanaugh	Producer
Aldric La'auli Porter	Producer
Owen Wilson	Producer
Megan Brown	Special Effects
Jeff Wexler	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Rarely does a character's emotional transformation translate with as convincing sincerity as it does with As Good As It Gets' curmudgeonly Melvin Udall, played to perfection by Jack Nicholson. Mark Andrus and director James L. Brooks' bitterly funny and surprisingly touching script was tailored to Nicholson; he won his third Oscar as the lovable misanthrope. Helen Hunt broke out of the TV-sitcom ghetto with her Oscar-winning turn as a bittersweet, beleaguered waitress and single mom. Rounding out the circle of improbable friends, Greg Kinnear provides effortless work as the gay neighbor who provides an important role in Melvin's unlikely transformation. Ultimately, what makes the film succeed is its careful mix of laughs, melodrama and romance: the jokes always relate to the characters' development, and the more serious moments never devolve into sentimental treacle.