As Good as it Gets (released in theaters on Dec. 25, 1997) stands as a rare cinematic achievement: a character-driven dramedy that became a massive box-office hit while sweeping the major acting categories at the Oscars. Directed by James L. Brooks, the film is a sharp, deeply empathetic look at the walls we build around ourselves and the unlikely people who force us to tear them down.
The story centers on Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), a successful romance novelist living in Manhattan who suffers from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and an even more severe lack of social filters.
Melvin is a misanthrope who spends his days insulting his neighbors and sticking to a rigid routine.
His only connection to the outside world is Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt), a weary, resilient waitress at a local diner who is the only person capable of handling his verbal abuse while tending to her chronically ill son.
Melvin’s sheltered life is disrupted when his neighbor, a talented artist named Simon Bishop (Greg Kinnear), is brutally assaulted in a robbery.
At the urging of Simon’s art dealer, Frank (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a reluctant Melvin is pressured into caring for Simon’s dog, Verdell.
This small act of responsibility begins to crack Melvin’s icy exterior.
When Simon falls into a deep depression and financial ruin following the attack, Melvin—motivated by his desire to keep Carol working at the diner—funds her son’s medical care and eventually takes Simon on a road trip to Baltimore.
Along the way, joined by a brief, tense encounter with a hustler (Skeet Ulrich), the three disparate souls form an accidental family.
Melvin is forced to confront the reality that “getting better” isn’t about curing his quirks, but about learning to love others despite them.
Leslie Stefanson, Brian Doyle-Murray, Yeardley Smith, Shane Black, Randall Batinkoff, Jamie Kennedy, Maya Rudolph, Wood Harris and Harold Ramis round out the supporting cast.
Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt in As Good as it Gets (Photo/Sony Pictures)
Reception for As Good as it Gets
As Good as it Gets grossed $16.2 million on its opening weekend, finishing third at the box office behind Titanic ($35.5 million) and Tomorrow Never Dies ($20.5 million).
The film would remain in the top 10 for its first 15 weeks en route to grossing $148.5 million domestically and $314 million worldwide.
It is Nicholson’s second-highest-earning film, behind Batman.
Roger Ebert gave As Good as it Gets three out of four stars in his review.
Legacy
The legacy of As Good as it Gets is defined by its refusal to sanitize its protagonist. Unlike many films that treat mental health or personality flaws as a “cute” quirk to be easily fixed, Brooks presents Melvin as genuinely difficult, making his eventual softening feel earned and profound.
The film remains a benchmark for screenwriting, balancing acidic wit with devastating emotional honesty, and it famously became the first film since The Silence of the Lambs to win both Best Actor and Best Actress Academy Awards.
Beyond the awards, the film is remembered for its cultural impact on the portrayal of OCD and for cementing Nicholson’s status as the definitive interpreter of the “lovable rogue.”
It also provided a career-defining role for Kinnear, who transitioned from television host to serious dramatic actor with his nuanced performance.
The film is celebrated as a high-water mark of 1990s adult-oriented cinema, proving that a story about three people in a car can be as thrilling and resonant as any big-budget spectacle.
