Long time reader, first time spy. I got to see the test screening of "As Good As It Gets" here in San Diego last night. I never heard of it before and was *really* hoping it was a front for Titanic or Alien 4 or something more exciting. I was disappointed, but only for about 10 seconds.
"As Good As It Gets" is what I guess you would call a romantic comedy. It has Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., and a small, funny looking dog. The movie ran around 2 hours and 20 minutes, with no opening or closing credits, but I'm sure it will be edited down to under 2 hours before release. We were told that there were temporary music tracks, and that we'd see a couple blue screens.
I'm not much for romantic comedies (When Harry Met Sally excepted), because I like my humor a little on the dark side. So when Jack Nicholson came on screen as Melvin, an obsessive/compulsive romance novelist bigot, I was pleasantly surprised. We all know Jack can rant and rave as an insane person extremely well. We've seen it MANY times before. But he also slowly managed to put more heart into Melvin than I've ever seen Jack put into any role. And he definitely had the funniest lines he's ever delivered. Though not a terribly versatile actor (face it, he's got a limited number of facial expressions, and no new tricks up his sleeve--a Robert De Niro, he ain't), he is always believable and has perfect comic timing.
Ultra-hotty Helen Hunt plays Carol, the waitress Melvin is infatuated with. As expected, she's a believable actress with Swiss timing too, but she actually manages to be more intense than Jack in more than a few scenes. And to satisfy the pigs in all of us men who hate to be dragged to romantic movies, Helen has a nice wet T-shirt scene. That right there is worth the price of admission, neh?
What really caught me off guard was Greg Kinnear's portrayal of Simon, Melvin's gay neighbor. Now this guy has versatility. Although he comes across as kind of a gay cliché in the beginning, that changes after he experiences some "bad luck" that completely transforms his personality. I love it when you stop seeing the actor, and only see the character. Kinnear almost dissolves into this role. Its hard to believe that the guy from Talk Soup could really pull something like this off believably, but he did. And to top it off he does an *amazing* Jack Nicholson impersonation. Twenty years from now, when they do a film about Jack, I want Greg to play the role.
Cuba Gooding Jr. has a small part as Simon's lover. He's a tough gay guy with a few great lines. He wasn't given much, but he did a fine job.
The dog was funny early on in the movie, but he was basically just a plot device to give Melvin and Simon a reason to have some confrontations.
The direction by James L. Brooks (same guy that did Terms of Endearment) was adequate. No fancy camera work, or stunning portraits. Just basically what you would expect of a romantic comedy, I guess.
The script, by Mark Andrus and the director had moments of brilliance. The story was unique, the characters had depth, and some of the lines almost had me laughing out of my seat. It was just a little slow in parts, but I'm sure they're going to tighten it up before release.
Overall it was a fine film, well worth the normal ticket price. And when its released I plan on having my puppets Siskel and Ebert both give it thumbs up.
