Whenever a group of award winning talent is brought together for a new film, anticipation and worry follow hand in hand. Will egos that usually get inflated with stardom, run out of check? Will creative differences -- fueled by those big egos -- hamper the production? Finally, will the movie be any good, or just another star-filled disappointment? With director James L. Brooks latest film, "As Good As It Gets," the answer definitely falls into the "good" results.
As a matter of fact, it's very good. Not only does it feature Brooks as writer and director (for which he's received three Oscars and thirteen Emmys over his career), but it also re-teams him with Jack Nicholson who earned one of his two Oscars (out of ten nominations) while starring in Brooks' 1983 hit, "Terms of Endearment." Throw in recent award winner Cuba Gooding, Jr. (for "Jerry Maguire"), Emmy award winner Helen Hunt (TV's "Mad About You"), and new film star Greg Kinnear ("Sabrina"), and you've got quite the gaggle of likeable, personable, charismatic, and definitely talented performers.
Nicholson is an absolute delight as Melvin. Not only is this one of his better recent performances, but it's also definitely one of his funniest. What takes it a step beyond is the humaneness with which he slowly fills his character as the story progresses. Sure he's got an acerbic wit and says some meanspirited things -- all of which are also quite funny in the given context -- but we accept this because we know that he doesn't fully realize what he's doing or saying. The plot blames this on his obsessive-compulsive disorder, and we're subconsciously drawn to his character because he says things without thinking about the consequences or being politically correct. He does what many people would like to be able to, and that makes his character strangely attractive. That quality also brilliantly holds the audience and has us in his grasp so that we'll care about him once he begins to warm up.
Of course a catalyst -- an ice breaker, if you will -- is needed for warming that icy, cold heart, and Brooks actually provides three such elements for the job. One is obviously Hunt's character who awakens his romantic feelings, and another is Kinnear's character who evokes Melvin's sympathy. It's the cute little canine Verdell, however, that exposes Melvin's iceberg and initiates the welcomed thaw. They don't give out Oscars for best performance by an animal, but perhaps they should. That's because this little mutt steals the show early on -- a point well recognized by Brooks who lovingly gives the little pooch a lot of screen time and some adorable closeups.
Moving back to the human performers, I've always enjoyed Helen Hunt's cute, near smug-like quality that serves her quite well in this film. With her TV sitcom "Mad About You" nearing the inevitable end of its long and successful run, Hunt is maneuvering her way onto the big screen. While she's had many smaller roles, her appearance in 1996's smash hit, "Twister," brought her more wide recognition and bumped her up onto the short list of desired leading ladies. Although that action flick made a lot of money, Hunt is better suited for romantic comedies. As this film proves, she might just give the reigning queen of that genre, Julia Roberts, a run for the money for that throne.
Greg Kinnear proves that his superb performance in 1995's "Sabrina" was no fluke. Although his portrayal of a gay man might ruffle some viewers' feathers, he creates such a compassionate, sympathetic character that everyone will like him by the story's end. Of course that's the point, and it's symbolically played out on the screen by having Melvin's obvious anti-gay sentiments eventually evaporate. Cuba Gooding, Jr. is fabulously entertaining in his small role. After his Oscar-winning performance in "Jerry Maguire," everyone wondered how he'd follow that, and this supporting character is just as much fun to watch as his last. You only wish he had some more screen time, but with so many strong characters, some material obviously had to be left out.
Even so, the film still occasionally fills a bit long at two hours and eighteen minutes, and could have used a few judicial edits to shorten it up just a bit. Brooks' capable direction and the actors' performances, however, certainly keep the film from ever feeling monotonous. In addition, Brooks' screenplay (co-written by Mark Andrus) is as outstanding as usual, with the deeply differentiated characters given superb, well-written lines of dialogue to speak.
That, of course, helps in generating the chemistry between Nicholson's and Hunt's characters. Despite their differences in age on screen -- and in real life -- sparks do fly when they're together. Obviously some of those are of the romantic variety, but equally fun are the ones caused by their differing personalities rubbing each other the wrong way. Like sandpaper eventually wearing down rough surfaces, however, their somewhat caustic relationship eventually smooths out their hardened outer personalities until they finally see the vulnerable person hiding inside each other.
Of course the trip getting to that point is the challenge, particularly considering Nicholson's character. Suffering from his obsessive-compulsive disorder, he always eats with plastic utensils, washes once with a bar of soap and then throws it away, and religiously avoids stepping on any cracks -- regardless of their origin -- all of which lead to some hilarious scenes. Of course all of that is just to make their pending romance more difficult to attain, but as Melvin tells Carol at one moment, "You make me want to be a better man."
Women will obviously love the fact that a man wants to change for a woman, and of course many men won't like that at all. That scene -- and the movie in general -- however, is about compromise, and all of the characters go through big doses of it to get what they really want and/or finally deserve. While that sounds a bit heavy, it's played more on the humorous side with a few bits of dark material thrown in to make it a bit more realistic. It's always fun to watch characters change and grow as a story progresses, and this film makes that "voyeurism" quite entertaining and satisfying.
Certainly the best romantic comedy of the year, this film should delight moviegoers. With outstanding direction, writing, and what should be some award-winning (or at least nominated) performances, this is one of the best films of the year. If you're looking for a fun, heart-warming time at the movies, you won't miss with this film that's been appropriately and deservedly named. We give "As Good As It Gets" a 9 out of 10.
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