REVIEWS

"AS GOOD AS IT GETS"

Jack Nicholson would probably suck playing a role in a costume drama set in the Victorian era. Also, he probably sucks with foreign accents. Still, he's one of the best actors working today, and "As Good As It Gets" shows you why. He plays a real bastard of a human being. Racist, sexist, homophobic, mean-spirited, and he's just plain obnoxious. Still, he manages to be semi-likable. No other actor in the world woulda been able to pull that off. Jack did it easily.

"As Good As It Gets" was made by James L. Brooks, the Academy Award winning writer, producer, and director of "Terms of Endearment" and "Broadcast News." In those films, Jack Nicholson had brief, almost cameo, roles. This is his first film with Brooks where he's the main character. They each have a style that seems to work well with the other's, so they'll probably continue to work together.

Nicholson isn't the only one who shines in front of the camera here. Helen Hunt is wonderful as Carol, his waitress at a local cafe. Her role is similar to that of Renee Zellweger's single mom character in "Jerry Maguire," only a bit wiser and more cynical. Greg Kinnear, who I'd never seen act before, surprised me. He's got quite a bit of talent. I always thought of him as some annoying guy who used to host a talk show, but he's got my respect now. Cuba Gooding, Jr. (speaking of "Jerry Maguire") is here as well. His role is a lot smaller, but when he IS on-screen, you know it. Still, the one who steals the movie is the dog who plays "Verdell." I know, I know. We're all sick of movies that rely on "the little dog" to win over the cuteness factor. Well, this dog is the best one I've ever seen. You've got to see him to believe it.

The movie is very funny at times, and it has great dramatic moments as well. The problem with this film is that it's much longer than it should be. At about two hours and twenty minutes, I think it needed more trimming. I heard that there was an entire sub-plot taken out involving Skeet Ulrich as Greg Kinnear's lover. Skeet's role was reduced to "bit part," and that's probably a good thing. Nothing against Skeet, it's just that the movie was ALREADY too long. I mean, I'm not one of those people who hate long movies just because they're long. Hell, I'm gonna see "Titanic" again in a couple of days, and I went to the theater months ago to see Kenneth Branagh's four-hour version of "Hamlet." But those movies were long because they HAD to be. This one didn't.

I enjoyed the movie, but I wanted more from the Jack Nicholson/James L. Brooks combo. But the actors were all great together, and Greg Kinnear has proven to be a great talent. This doesn't mean that I'm gonna go rent "Dear God," or the remake of "Sabrina," but he DID keep up with Jack!

Scale of 1-10: 7