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As Good As It Gets (1997)
IMDb Rating 7.7
Front Cover Actor Back Cover
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
Harold Ramis Dr. Betz
Jesse James Spencer Connelly
Jill the Dog Verdell (as Jill)
Bibi Osterwald Neighbor Woman
Plot
For all of its conventional plotting about an obsessive-compulsive curmudgeon (Jack Nicholson) who improves his personality at the urging of his gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear) and a waitress (Helen Hunt) who inspires his best behavior, this is one of the sharpest Hollywood comedies of the 1990s. Nicholson could play his role in his sleep (the Oscar he won should have gone to Robert Duvall for The Apostle), but his mischievous persona is precisely necessary to give heart to his seemingly heartless character, who is of all things a successful romance novelist. As a single mom with a chronically asthmatic young son, Hunt gives the film its conscience and integrity (along with plenty of wry humor), and she also won an Oscar for her wonderful performance. Greg Kinnear had to settle for an Oscar nomination (while cowriter-director James L. Brooks was inexplicably snubbed by Oscar that year), but his work was also singled out in the film's near-unanimous chorus of critical praise. It's questionable whether a romance between Hunt and the much older Nicholson is entirely believable, but this movie's smart enough--and charmingly funny enough--to make it seem endearingly possible. --Jeff Shannon
Movie Details
Genre Comedy; Drama; Romance
Director James L. Brooks
Producer James L. Brooks; Bridget Johnson; Kristi Zea
Writer Mark Andrus; James L. Brooks
Studio Columbia TriStar
Country USA
Language English
Audience Rating R
Running Time 139 mins
Movie Release Date 12/25/1997
Color Color
Personal Details
Format DVD
Seen It No
Index 425
Collection Status In Collection
Purchase Date 3/17/2005
Product Details
Region Region 1
Screen Ratio Standard 1.33:1 Color
Widescreen 1.85:1 Color
Layers Dual Side, Single Layer
UPC (Barcode) 043396217096
Chapters 28
Release Date 2/4/2003
Subtitles English; French; Spanish
Packaging Keep Case
Audio Tracks ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 [CC]
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo [CC]
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Stereo
Nr of Disks/Tapes 1
Extra Features
Color Closed-captioned Widescreen Dolby
Links
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