Nicholson is in top form as Melvin Udall, a racist, curmudgeonly and entirely unpleasant obsessive compulsive writer, frittering away the hours in his locked room. His ticks go unseen and he is hesitant to talk about them, even having stopped going to therapy which he desperately needs. The very little social interaction he gets comes from his daily morning breakfast at a diner in Manhattan where all but one of the waitresses cringe when he enters. He spends his time shouting at the employees and making obscene comments to fellow customers in order to get them to leave his special table. Puzzling out this character for the first third of the film is a chore and half; people simply don't function the way Mr. Udall does, but it's kind of hysterical to watch him unabashedly insult people as he tries not to step on cracks in the sidewalk.
The one waitress in the restaurant who does tolerate him is Carol (Hunt), a middle-aged, single mother of a very sick little boy. She's tough as nails, yet exudes maternal warmth. She is blunt, focused, with so much care and passion all directed to her son's well-being, sacrificing her life in order to provide for him. An early scene shows her returning from a date to her one-bedroom apartment where she lives with her boy and her mother. Mom puts on headphones so as not to hear Carol and her beau fooling around, but when her son Spencer coughs, she rushes to him and helps him vomit into a trashcan. Carol returns to her date and accidentally gets some Spencer juice on his hands. He leaves saying, "Too much reality for a Friday night." That is her life. It is always reality.
When Melvin's gay neighbor Simon (Kinnear) is hospitalized after being attacked in his apartment by a gang of male prostitutes, the three people are brought together by Melvin's sudden urge to do altruistic good deeds, inspired by the brief companionship of a shaky lap dog. The precarious friendships form into blossoming relationships of trust and love, all the while tested by Melvin's big mouth and zig-zagging lightning mind. The complexities of each of them blend together like a shuffled deck of cards, creating a hand which is a surprise with each turn.
Mark Andrus' story is vivid, propelled along by its interesting and tangible characters who speak words from an occasionally brilliant script. Oftentimes it borders on a sweetness that is almost sickly, but there is enough honest emotion that keeps it grounded in the firm area of plain exuberance. Hunt, in particular, has the ability to rip at the heartstrings of the viewers and then make them laugh, all within the same line. The actress and the character both shine.
I read the list of actors and thought Nicholson and Hunt would have been a very odd pairing. Not only did their age difference make a romance seem unlikely, but their very styles of acting are so different that I imagined them to be incompatible. But like chili in chocolate those very different flavors combined into something very palatable. I often found myself with my pen forgotten simply soaking up two actors doing what they love best.
What makes the movie so enjoyable is seeing identifiable people struggle both internally and externally and in the end succeeding. Because the characters were so developed we cheer for Melvin even though he is insufferably unaware of how to interact with another human being. We watch Simon come to terms with his lack of artistic achievement, Carol scrape by with nothing to keep her going but a hug from Spencer, Melvin religiously turning the locks on his door five times each, and we praise them for trying to better themselves. When they triumph, we triumph. "As Good as It Gets" hits all the right notes and left me with a huge smile on my face and optimism in my heart.
3.5/4
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