Amazon.com Essentials:
Larry McMurtry's novel
becomes a somewhat lumpy film as directed by James L. Brooks (As Good As It
Gets). Nevertheless, it is entirely winning, with Shirley
MacLaine and Debra Winger playing a combative mother and daughter who
see each other through various ups and downs in love and loss, and
most especially through a terminal illness endured by Winger's
character. Jack Nicholson deservedly won an Oscar for his supporting
role as a free-spirited astronaut who backs away from a romance with
MacLaine and then returns in the clutch. As he always does, Brooks
keeps things from getting too soapy with his intense concentration on
the soulful evolution of his characters. --Tom Keogh
