James L. Brooks has a rare gift as a film-maker: the ability to give the people what they want while also giving them what _he_ wants. TERMS OF ENDEARMENT was a crowd-pleasing tear-jerker buoyed by smart comedy and rich characterizations; BROADCAST NEWS brought a throwback romantic comedy sensibility to an upscale study of journalistic ethics with an unexpectedly down-beat conclusion. Even the notorious Little Musical That Wasn't I'LL DO ANYTHING demonstrated Brooks' willingness to cut bait when he knew the audience had no interest in what he was offering. His instincts have proven as irreproachable as they are unconventional.
AS GOOD AS IT GETS had the potential for a classic written all over it. For once, however, Brooks doesn't have a grip on how best to handle his material. He casts Jack Nicholson as a bile-spewing satyr, then turns him into a repentant bile-spewing satyr. He crafts an appealing relationship between two troubled and mis-matched characters, then muddles the mix by throwing in a third troubled character. He takes 90 minutes of great material and drags it out over nearly two and a half hours.
It didn't have to be like that. AS GOOD AS IT GETS has a wonderful character at its center, a truly horrible human being named Melvin Udall (Nicholson). A reclusive writer diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, Melvin has turned his condition into carte blanche to insult and berate everyone with whom he comes in contact. That includes Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt), the waitress who serves him breakfast every morning, and goes double for his neighbor, gay artist Simon Bishop (Greg Kinnear). Then, unexpectedly, Melvin finds himself forced to do something for someone else, caring for Simon's dog Verdell after Simon is beaten in a robbery attempt. That one act seems to launch Melvin on a spate of selflessness, including helping Carol with her sickly son and driving Simon to meet with his estranged parents.
It's an admirable theme for a film, this notion of a man deciding to change himself when he realizes the effect those changes have on other people. But why, of all people, Jack Nicholson? The pre-conversion Melvin is an outrageous delight, getting away with hateful rantings few other characters could without inspiring protests. His growth as a character saps him of all his bad-boy energy, leaving in its place a tricky romance with Hunt which somehow works even with Nicholson perpetually looking like he's straining at the end of a leash.
That romance might have been even more effective if Brooks had kept his attention fixed on how Melvin and Carol are so good and so bad for each other. Hunt is superb and heart-breaking as the single mother struggling to discover how to live her own life again, matching Nicholson for don't-mess-with-me vigor. Yet there's always Simon there in the background, a distracting tangent the lightweight Kinnear can't invest with sufficient gravity. His story adds little but the adorably grungy Verdell, a couple of showboating scenes for Cuba Gooding Jr. as a fuming art dealer, and a lot of padding to an already over-long film.
Brooks is too adept with a witty line to turn out a tedious film, and Nicholson and Hunt too capable to fumble the well-rounded characterizations. AS GOOD AS IT GETS simply turns out to be a rare case of Brooks failing to ride what works for all it's worth. It's funny but fitful, because we know this isn't as good as a James L. Brooks film gets.
By : Scott Renshaw
Source: rec.art.movies.reviews newsgroup
Rating: 4
Some of the most memorable one-liners of the year, Jack Nicholson's best role since CHINATOWN, Greg Kinnear's best role since... well, since ever, and a story I think we can all relate to – what does AS GOOD AS IT GETS *not* have?
Aside from a few quibbles, AS GOOD AS IT GETS really stands out as one of the year's best films. Mark Nicholson down for a well-deserved Oscar. In fact, just watching him do two hours of his irredeemable Melvin by himself would be a treat. Match him up with a fine supporting cast, and it's golden.
The story doesn't really lend itself to explanation, but I'll try anyway. Melvin is a famous novelist, as eccentric and neurotic as they come. Obsessed with ritual, leaving the house is an ordeal. Hell, opening the door is an ordeal. But when tragedy befalls his gay artist neighbor (Kinnear), Melvin rises to the task and finds himself on a bit of a personal journey, to risk sounding sentimental.
Along for the ride is Helen Hunt's Carol, the waitress with whom Melvin is quietly smitten. And though the three seem as far off from one another as they come, they actually have one thing in common: they're all plain nuts. And it doesn't sound like it, but the way these three help each other through bad times makes for some powerful and quite hilarious cinema.
For what it's worth, Hunt is in fine form, redeeming herself for her now-hateful character on TV's `Mad About You,' and maybe it was watching Nicholson here that made her that way. My only real complaint is that, while it's a fun ride, the movie is a bit circuitous, and after two hours, I'm not sure I buy the resolution.
But it doesn't really matter. AS GOOD AS IT GETS finally tells it like it is: most of us are nuts. In fact, most of us are completely fucking nuts! And if you look hard enough, there really may be someone out there for all of us, to help us make some sense of this wild ride we're on after all.
Recommended for screwballs of all ages.
By : Christopher Null
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