Tuesday, November 12, 2002

Touching !!

As Good as It Gets Pros: Excellent performance by Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. Cons: Maybe a little mushy Bottom Line : A good movie to relax with your partner and have fun at the same time. Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot. Full Review This movie is all about relationships. Its quite a simple story with a great combination of cast. The credit for the movie being awarded goes wholly to the cast and the director who have brought out the best of the characters they played for the movie. Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt !! A great concoction of talent. They are supported by Greg Kienner. The movie has an intricate story. It is simple yet has lots of shades in it !!! Melvin (Jack N) is a writer who suffers from obssessive complusive disorder. His personality depicted borders on insanity. He is a very scrooge like character with soft heart thrown in. He is paranoid about everything. He walks in a particular manner, he goes to a particular restaurant and nowhere else to eat as he is kind of fixed about what he does. He also brings in his utensils to eat in the restaurant. He lives alone in an apartment and he is known for not being social. He is not very popular as he has this tendency to make sarcastic remarks and he does not care whether he hurts the other person. Carol (Helen Hunt) is a single mom struggling to make ends meet. She has a son who is ill and she does not have enough money to give him the best of treatments. Her character is pretty straight forward yet very feminine. She complements Melvin's character very well Simon (Greg. K) is Melvin's gay tenant who is an artist.He has a very sweet dog who lives with him. It so happens that Simon gets beaten up by some guys who take advantage of him and he is laid up in the hospital. Simon's dog is placed in Melvin's hands till Simon is well and out of the hospital. Melvin is not very fond of dogs. But he slowly grows to care for him and then we see the softer and romantic side of Melvin's personality. He realises this when Simon comes back from the hospital and he takes back his dog. The dog itself is also responsible for making the movie so endearing. It has got unbelievable expressions which is very funny and creates the right effect at the right time. Melvin sorely misses the dog and realises how lonely his life is. Simon is having his own personal problems. Melvin and Carol offer to help him out with this. Meanwhile Melvin and Carol are in the process of falling in love with each other. Melvin tries to woo her but bungles because of his insensitive attitude. Its very charming to watch how the infallible Melvin goes about winning Carol's affection. But Melvin finally tries to behave like a normal person and after making amends with Carol, he wins her over. Simon also makes peace with himself and alls well that ends well. The best part of the story is that it has various nuances of the same emotion called friendship and love and it is portrayed very well. It will not fail to touch your heart and your mind. No wonder the performances were up for Oscars. Recommended: Yes Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day @Pallavi 2002