As Good as It Gets
As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by James L. Brooks from a screenplay he co-wrote with Mark Andrus. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, bigoted and obsessive–compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with a chronically ill son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The film premiered at the Regency Village Theatre on December 6, 1997, and was released theatrically in the United States on December 25, 1997, and was a critical and box office hit, grossing $314.1 million on a $50 million budget.
Plot
Misanthropic New York City best-selling romance novelist Melvin Udall (Nicholson) has obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). He uses soap bars only once to wash his hands, uses paper towels to touch public restroom faucets and door handles, avoids stepping on sidewalk cracks, has rituals with switches and locks, and sticks to rigid routines. Melvin always eats breakfast at the same table in the same restaurant while bringing his own plastic silverware. Carol Connelly (Hunt) is the only server at the restaurant who can tolerate his odd and rude behavior.
Awards
Cast
- Bibi Osterwald
- Brian Doyle-Murray
- Cuba Gooding Jr.
- Danielle Brisebois
- Danielle Spencer
- Frank Slaten
- Greg Kinnear
- Harold Ramis
- Helen Hunt
- Jack Nicholson
- Jamie Kennedy
- Jesse James
- Jimmy Workman
- John F. O'Donohue
- Julie Benz
- Justin Herwick
- Kaitlin Hopkins
- Kathryn Morris
- Kristi Zea
- Lawrence Kasdan
- Leslie Stefanson
- Lisa Edelstein
- Lupe Ontiveros
- Matt Malloy
- Maurice LaMarche
- Maya Rudolph
- Missi Pyle
- Patricia Childress
- Peter Jacobson
- Randall Batinkoff
- Rebekah Johnson
- Ross Bleckner
- Shane Black
- Shirley Knight
- Skeet Ulrich
- Tara Subkoff
- Todd Solondz
- Tom McGowan
- Wood Harris
- Yeardley Smith