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As Good As It Gets picture

A New York City waitress (Helen Hunt), a gay painter (Greg Kinnear) and a dog help a misanthropic author... (Learn more)

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear (View All)

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Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt in As Good As it Gets. (Photo: Tri Star/Gracie Films)
About As Good As It Gets

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear

James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News) directed this $50 million-plus romantic comedy, set in Manhattan. Dysfunctional, acid-tongued romance novelist Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), who suffers from an obsessive-compulsive disorder, takes pride in his ability to offend. At a nearby cafe, the only waitress willing to stand up to his sarcastic tirades is Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt), a single mother struggling to raise her chronically asthmatic son. In Melvin's West Village apartment building, talented contemporary artist Simon Nye (Greg Kinnear) lives across the hall from Melvin. Simon is the current darling of the New York art world, reason enough to draw Melvin's verbal fire, but Simon's gay lifestyle is further grist for the novelist's malicious mill. These three New Yorkers, none of whom appears to have a chance in hell at finding true happiness, discover their fates intertwined because of the fourth complicated character in the piece, Verdell, a tiny Brussels Griffon dog (played by newcomer Jill, after a 15-week training program). Melvin seems to have no friends or family, and he lives alone, working on his 62nd book.

When Simon goes into the hospital after a brutal mugging, Melvin has to take care of Verdell, and the dog actually warms Melvin's cold heart -- to the degree that he sets up unsolicited medical care for Carol's son. Eventually, Melvin is cornered into driving Simon and Carol to Baltimore, and during a hotel stopover, Melvin confesses to Carol, "You make me want to be a better man." The trip becomes an odyssey of self-realization for all three. Locations included Brooklyn's Prospect Park (Carol's neighborhood) and Greenwich Village (where Melvin's building is on 12th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues). Other exteriors were shot in downtown Los Angeles, where a dilapidated transient hotel at the corner of 4th Street and Main was transformed into the chic cafe where Carol works. Sets for the Simon/Melvin apartment interiors were erected on a soundstage at the Sony Pictures lot. Simon's paintings were created for the film by New York artist Billy Sullivan, whose work is part of the modern art collection at NYC's Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New Orleans Museum of Art. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

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Quick Facts

US Release Date

12/23/97

MPAA Rating

Rated PG-13

Running Time

130 mins.

Locations

  • Los Angeles, California, USA
  • New York City, New York, USA

Language

  • English

Box Office Total

$147,637,474

Awards

  • Winner of the Best Actor - Runner-up award at the 1997 Toronto Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
  • Winner of the Best Actress award at the 1997 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 1997 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Musical or Comedy Score award at the 1997 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 1997 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
  • Winner of the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or award at the 1997 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
  • Winner of the Best Actor award at the 1997 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award at the 1997 Screen Actors Guild [Festival/Award] Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Original Screenplay award at the 1997 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
  • Winner of the Best Actor award at the 1997 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Screenplay award at the 1997 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
  • Winner of the Best Supporting Actor award at the 1997 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
  • Winner of the Best Actor award at the 1997 Broadcast Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Actress award at the 1997 Screen Actors Guild [Festival/Award] Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Editing award at the 1997 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Supporting Actor award at the 1997 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion award at the 1997 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
  • Winner of the Best Actor award at the 1997 Screen Actors Guild [Festival/Award] Awards.
  • Winner of the Best Picture - Musical or Comedy award at the 1997 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
  • Winner of the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical award at the 1997 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Director award at the 1997 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
  • Nominated for a Best Director award at the 1997 Directors Guild of America [Festival/A Awards.

Distributor

  • Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
  • TriStar Pictures