A single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.A single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.A single mother and waitress, a misanthropic author, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
- Won 2 Oscars
- 38 wins & 54 nominations total
- Verdell
- (as Jill)
- Supporting Dog
- (as Timer)
- Supporting Dog
- (as Billy)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn one scene the dog starts mimicking Jack Nicholson by stepping over the cracks in the sidewalk. The filmmakers accomplished this by placing little obstacles on the cracks so that the dog had to step over them. They then removed the obstacles digitally in post-production.
- GoofsWhen Melvin and Carol walk past the bakery at the end of the movie, the lights come on and the staff in the bakery can be seen working. Before the lights came on, the staff must have been working in pitch black.
- Quotes
Melvin Udall: Now, I got a real great compliment for you, and it's true.
Carol Connelly: I'm so afraid you're about to say something awful.
Melvin Udall: Don't be pessimistic, it's not your style. Okay. Here I go. Clearly a mistake.
[shifts in his seat uncomfortably]
Melvin Udall: I've got this, what, ailment? My doctor, a shrink that I used to go to all the time, he says that in fifty or sixty percent of the cases, a pill really helps. I hate pills. Very dangerous thing, pills. Hate. I'm using the word "hate" here, about pills. Hate. My compliment is, that night when you came over and told me that you would never... all right, well, you were there, you know what you said. Well, my compliment to you is, the next morning, I started taking the pills.
Carol Connelly: I don't quite get how that's a compliment for me.
Melvin Udall: You make me want to be a better man.
[pause]
Carol Connelly: [stunned] That's maybe the best compliment of my life.
Melvin Udall: Well, maybe I overshot a little, because I was aiming at just enough to keep you from walking out.
- Crazy creditsJust after the disclaimer of the American Humane Association (The animals used in this film were in no way mistreated...) there is a second disclaimer stating "The actors used in this film were in no way mistreated."
- ConnectionsEdited into Doggiewoggiez! Poochiewoochiez! (2012)
- SoundtracksTemple (Sanctuary Mix)
Written & Performed by Jane Siberry
Courtesy of Reprise Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
The performances are uniformly excellent. Nicholson shows real range here - sure, he gets to be the sarcastic curmudgeon we've all come to expect, but his character also has moments of fear, repression and vulnerability which he brings off equally well. My problem with this character (and the "problem" only exists as I think about him afterward, not while I'm actually watching the movie) is in his conception: he seems to be whatever the writers want him to be at that moment, with no particular consistency from scene to scene so when he supposedly "changes" at the end, we're left to think, "Change? This guy's been changing through the entire movie!" And also, the fact that his character is a romance novelist is never really explained or examined in any way.
And yet, Nicholson's performance makes it not matter quite so much.
Helen Hunt is a revelation in this movie - she nails every scene she's in, whether she's forced to be witty, embarrassed, angry, defiant, emotionally overwhelmed, whatever. She keeps Jack on his toes, and they work off each other brilliantly. Also, I never thought I'd find myself saying this, but Greg Kinnear was great as Simon, the gay neighbor. (It was also nice to see director Harold Ramis - the third Ghostbuster, after all - in front of the camera again, if only briefly, in a small part as a doctor.)
What more can I say? Good comedy, good love story, great acting. None of it, in the end, is very convincing, but if you just focus on the individual moments and not on the grand design - a task made easy by the wonderful writing and playing - it's very easy to like As Good As It Gets.
- krumski
- Feb 17, 2000
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Old Friends
- Filming locations
- Khoury's Restaurant - 110 N. Marina Drive, Long Beach, California, USA(Chesapeake Bay, Baltimore Restaurant)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $50,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $148,478,011
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $12,606,928
- Dec 28, 1997
- Gross worldwide
- $314,178,011
- Runtime2 hours 19 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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