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As Good As It Gets Customer Reviews (37 - 39 of 68 Reviews)

Also, I've never been smitten with the lovely Helen Hunt.

Lastly, Greg Kinnear has always been REALLY too smarmy for me.

However, somehow AS GOOD AS IT GETS has a special place in my heart.

Nicholson is absolutely fabulous as the neurotic writer who, due to circumstances wildly beyond his control, has to not so much step outside of his comfort zone as he has to destroy the barriers that have isolated him from society when the people that make up the routine of his life -- eating at the corner restaurant, pestering the gay neighbors -- start to come apart at the seams. The crusty exterior, we learn, is just a facade, and the man underneath -- while not perfect -- accepts that life is worth living ... as good as it gets.

Helen Hunt is absolutely radiant in the role as the corner shop waitress who's forced to deal with Nicholson's habits ... and, much to her surprise and the audience, she begins to experience true emotion for the man.

Greg Kinnear plays the struggling artist role to perfection. He has bouts of great self-esteem countered by comic moments of heightened anxiety, and the subtlety he brings to his portrayal is may be all-too-Hollywood but is surprisingly human.

A perfect mix, this film is about AS GOOD AS IT GETS.

Truly "As Good As It Gets"
So many romantic comedies out there are dribble -- pure dribble. It's an oddity to find that rare, wonderful piece that displays not only the path or course two hearts take to find one another, but also true human emotion, conflicts, struggles, personality (ahem) disorders, and the like. What a truly amazing film!

I saw this film in the theater and was so enraptured I eagerly awaited it's release on VHS/DVD. Nicholson & Hunt share a remarkable chemistry, something I was weary of when first hearing about this film (given the age difference). Both performances are right on-target and couldn't have been more splendid. In my opinion Greg Kinnear was robbed of an Academy Award (though I am a Robin Williams fan, the actor who took home Oscar that year), the pure emotion and complexity he brought to his character is amazing.

The supporting cast is outstanding, as well -- Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Shirley Knight were so fantastic. The entire cast works incredibly well together. If you're looking for a beautifully written movie with amazing direction, top-notch actors, and a wonderfully complex story that reaches beyond the bounds of a typical "romantic comedy" -- this is for you. It lifts my spirits and leaves me in a wonderful mood everytime I view it. Amazing. Simply amazing.

Pure greatness
First and foremost, the best thing about this movie...Melvin Udall. Not Jack Nicholson, but Melvin Udall, the main character. Nicholson is brilliant, and his performance in this movie was no different, but the character of Melvin is pure genius and is clearly the biggest reason for the success of this movie. He has some of the best one-liners I've ever heard, but his character also has incredible depth, and can be analyzed over and over again. Very well-rounded, and just so I don't take anything away from Nicholson...very well-acted.

Some liked Helen Hunt in this movie, some apparently didn't. I thought she did a great job. In As Good As It Gets, she masters the actor's art of making it seem like she wasn't acting at all. I have no objection at all for the fact that she won the Oscar; I found it well-deserved.

Greg Kinnear rounds out the "big 3" by putting in a great performance as well. Playing the gay neighbor of the main character isn't exactly an easy role to pull off; add to that the fact that he also has to undergo a subtle character transformation during this movie, and I think Kinnear deserves a lot of credit.

If there is one knock on this movie that I agree with, it's the complaint that the romance isn't believable. Melvin is an extremely likeable character, but as you will discover if you haven't seen this movie yet, most of his humor stems from his crass and tactless nature...aside from a couple of nice romantic lines, I personally was left scratching my head as to how Carol (Helen Hunt) could fall in love with this man.

Still, the positives of this movie far outweigh the negatives...it is hilarious as a comedy, and touching and thought-provoking as a drama. If you haven't seen it yet, see it immediately...if you have seen it and liked it, don't hesitate to buy it. Upon repeat viewings, it doesn't grow stale; this movie contains too many facets and subtleties to ever reach that level, in my view.