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Jack Nicholson is Melvin Udall. He is one of the most despicable people that you will ever meet. He has all sorts of compulsive behaviors, along with a "zero" tolerance for anyone else' feelings ore needs. He is a romance novelist, who in literary circles is very popular, but pretty much despised by everyone with whom he comes into contact. He lives in an expensive apartment, and has a gay neighbor who is a struggling artist, Greg Kinnear. You might say that Melvin is totally non-prejudice. . . He hates everybody! He goes through life like this "Toxic cloud of bad odor", irritating everyone in his path, and ironically doesn't realize it! Every day, Melvin shows at the same restaurant for breakfast and dinner. He ahs to have the very same table every time, orders basically the same meal, brings his own plastic eating utensils (sealed in plastic), and must have the same waitress every time. Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt) plays the poor waitress who "tolerates" his rudeness and his "high and mighty - better than you" attitude. Nobody else in the place can stand him. Helen has a child who is sickly, and has to be rushed to the hospital regularly. She is really at her whits end. One day, Melvin being himself, finds his neighbor's little dog wandering in the hall, and just because he is Melvin, drops the poor little furball down the mail/package shoot, and it winds up in the basement, luckily uninjured. Melvin plays his nasty, verbally abusive, self and denies any knowledge of the dog's whereabouts. Greg's agent, played by Cuba Gooding, finds the dog in the basement, and immediately knows what happened. He quietly knocks on Melvin's door, and when he answers, he grabs him and threatens to beat him to a bloody pulp if he ever again is mean to that little dog or rude or disrespectful to Greg ever again. Melvin is duly scared by this. The next morning, Melvin goes to breakfast and Carol isn't at work. Being the absolute total jerk and total piece of excrement that he is, he goes to her home to demand that she go to work so that he can get his breakfast! No matter, that she has been up all night in the hospital emergency room with her child. She tells him off. For the first time, he realizes what a jerk he is. The next day, he beggs himself back in - against the objections of everywhere there, she relents. In his twisted way, Melvin is attracted to Carol, and makes arrangements for her son to see a good doctor at his expense. Then all of a sudden, Greg gets assaulted in a home robbery, and beat up and has to be hospitalized. Cuba Gooding forces Melvin to care for Gregs dog. Soon, the dog and Melvin are inseparable. Upon release, Greg is scared and financially broke, and losing his apartment. The little dog is now a bridge between them. Melvin is slowly becoming human. He makes a trip with Greg and gets Carol to come along to go see Greg's parents for help. They have disowned him because he is gay. Over the course of the trip, and his closeness to Carol, he is trying to express himself to her, but hasn't a clue. He really needs her, but can't tell her. When Greg's parents are still stand-offish he abandons the attempt. When they get back to NYC, Melvin invites Greg to live in his spare room. Greg then tries to steer Melvin towards Carol in a way that he can show his new side and personality. They become friends, and a relationship is budding.Read full review
This is one of the funniest and most touching movies I have ever seen. Nicholson is in top form, and there are great performances by Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, and Cuba Gooding, Jr. I know of no other movie that has used so much wit and humor to deal with human frailties, disaster, and suffering, and it comes out on the other side with joy and redemption. As far as I am concerned, this movie is "As Good As It Gets." Great acting, smart dialog, and transformative human interactions make this a fine story. It affirms that the goodness of people can be so deeply hidden that we are amazed when it appears. I love this movie.
Beautiful, eye-opening, sad, happy, engaging, full of emotion, entrée into the human spirit, film starring nothing but stars!! Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinear, and Cuba Gooding star in this delicious, intelligent, heartwarming and intriguing movie about the human spirit and how it can change your feelings and your very heart in a very short time. Watch a gay man paint a nude of a very modest single Mom while a struggling, mentally challenged but brilliant, strait writer slowly falls in love with the same Mom. Initially he feels she is below his "station in life" but is crazy for her later on. All this single Mom wants is for her very sick son to be taken care of. In walks, mysteriously, a handsome doctor, sent by the single writer, at his cost, to take care of her every need and worry regarding her little boy. Rich, single guy's neighbor, "Simon", played by Kinnear, gets conned and badly beaten, hospitalized, and, to his chagrin, his straight neighbor, Melvin Udall, played by Nicholson, takes him in! Cuba Gooding is the ever helpful and loyal manager and protector to Kinnear with his booming art career. Cute little Verdell, Simon's dog, just about rounds out this wonderful film with his adventures. Overall, a movie I will NEVER, EVER tire of. Read full review
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Well, I kind of have a love/hate relationship with all Jack Nicholson movies I've seen. My hubby had me order this--he likes it a bit more than me--but it is a good story, good acting (supporting cast is excellent), and well worth watching more than once. Check out any movie review site for story details. (In all honestly, there are and were plenty of actors who couldn't help being themselves no matter what role they take/took on.)
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Acerbic and outwardly despicable pulp novelist Melvin Udall lives in a haze of obsessive-compulsive behavior patterns, avoiding cracks in the sidewalk and rigidly adhering to his regimen of daily breakfasts in the cafe where harried single mom Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt) is the only waitress he'll accept. But his ordered, hermetic world falls apart when his neighbor, a gay painter, needs a babysitter for his cherished dog--and only his long-time nemesis Melvin will do. Then, when the waitress's son's serious illness keeps her from work, Melvin realizes how much he needs her after all. Academy Award Nominations: 7, including Best Supporting Actor--Greg Kinnear, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score (Musical/Comedy), and Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. Academy Awards: Best Actor--Jack Nicholson and Best Actress--Helen Hunt.Read full review
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