As Good As It Gets

As Good as It Gets is an Academy Award-winning 1997 film which tells the story of an obsessive-compulsive, misanthropic, and bigoted writer named Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson). Because of his severe anxiety, he lives in a world that has shrunk to about the size of his apartment and the books he writes. Nevertheless, he befriends his regular waitress (Helen Hunt), a single mother; and his gay neighbor (Greg Kinnear), who is an artist.

Primary cast

* Jack Nicholson as Melvin Udall
* Helen Hunt as Carol Connelly
* Greg Kinnear as Simon Bishop
* Cuba Gooding Jr. as Frank Sachs
* Shirley Knight as Beverly Connelly
* Skeet Ulrich as Vincent Lopiano
* Yeardley Smith as Jackie Simpson
* Lupe Ontiveros as Nora Manning
* Jill the Dog as Verdell
* Danielle Spencer as the Veterinarian


Plot

The film opens with Melvin Udall, a famous author who lives in an expensive apartment block in New York. His homosexual neighbour Simon (Greg Kinnear) steps out into the hall and asks if he has seen his dog, Verdell (shortly before Melvin is questioned, we witness him shoving the little dog down the garbage chute in an act of revenge, as the dog was urinating in the stairwell). Simon is soon hospitalized after he is robbed and assaulted by acquaintances of a male model who he was painting. Simon's agent and friend Frank (Cuba Gooding Jr.), having nobody else to turn to, ends up demanding that Udall take care of Simon's dog while he is in hospital. This serves as a severe strain on Melvin, a recluse who suffers from OCD and is able to cope only by leading a life of strict regularity, combined with a highly offensive, extremely rude and sarcastic personality that keeps others away. Ironically, Melvin is a successful romance novel writer by profession. Although Melvin's life is intolerably complicated by having to deal with the dog and its homosexual owner, he is drawn more and more out of his shell and into their lives, almost powerless under the influence of the amazing intelligence and sweetness of Verdell.





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