X
- 1997
- PG-13
- Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)
- 2 h 19 m
- 1997
- PG-13
- Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)
- 2 h 19 m
Summary An unusual friendship develops between three people in New York City: a single mother working as a waitress (Hunt), a writer with obsessive-compulsive disorder (Nicholson), and his neighbor, a gay artist (Kinnear).
Directed By: James L. Brooks
Written By: Mark Andrus, James L. Brooks
- 1997
- PG-13
- Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)
- 2 h 19 m
- 1997
- PG-13
- Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)
- 2 h 19 m
As Good as It Gets
67
7.6
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Summary An unusual friendship develops between three people in New York City: a single mother working as a waitress (Hunt), a writer with obsessive-compulsive disorder (Nicholson), and his neighbor, a gay artist (Kinnear).
Directed By: James L. Brooks
Written By: Mark Andrus, James L. Brooks
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 30 Critic Reviews
67
63% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
33% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 30 Critic Reviews
67
63% Positive
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
33% Mixed
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
3% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
By Gene Siskel
It's a case of actors and strong writing coming together, and it's uncommon in contemporary movies.
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 200 User Ratings
7.6
80% Positive
159 Ratings
159 Ratings
16% Mixed
32 Ratings
32 Ratings
5% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable Based on 200 User Ratings
7.6
80% Positive
159 Ratings
159 Ratings
16% Mixed
32 Ratings
32 Ratings
5% Negative
9 Ratings
9 Ratings
Feb 15, 2025
I hadn't watched this since the VHS days, but my wife said she never saw it, and it was on Netflix. Such a great comedy and beautiful story. Couldn't be made today for multiple reasons, primarily some of the homophobic and racial language, but the quality is still there and I think it adds even more complexity to Jack Nicolson's character. Speaking of complexity, the dynamic between Melvin and Carol is extremely complex, but it's beautifully told and beautifully portrayed. I only wish a rich person could help with our bills in exchange for being part of their routine!
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Feb 8, 2025
Superb screenplay and casting combined with the excellent cinematography and soundtrack serve to tell a compelling heartfelt story of an unlikely highly autistic novelist as he struggles to connect to the "normal" social world around him often offending people with his awkward, judgmental unfiltered, often highly offensive thoughts. Despite this flaw in character, as the audience we get to see him open his heart in nicholsons wonderful portrayal. Watching in 2025 4k HDR and its aged like a fine wine.
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Not a positive triumph, but it does bring a smile to the face and, perhaps in some cases, a tear to the eye.
Appreciate it instead as an exceedingly well-crafted fairy tale, alive with eccentric, overdrawn Dickensian characters and irresistibly wholehearted sentiment, and you'll enjoy perhaps the most accomplished and satisfying work of Brooks' career as a middlebrow entertainer.
Billed cleverly as a comedy from the heart that goes for the throat. If only Brooks had had the guts to avoid the schmaltz.
An overstatement. The movie's too long, and the direction is sometimes slack -- but the script is crammed with withering ripostes, ably delivered by Nicholson and Hunt.
By Sandra Contreras FULL REVIEW
Experiencing this movie is a little like watching a manic-depressive's medication wear off.
By Michael Sragow FULL REVIEW
Dec 8, 2022
When I first saw this movie I thought it was going to be a funny movie. It's actually a serious drama movie. I still liked it but he's a **** in this movie.
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Oct 7, 2014
Horrible, whiny, implausible. Who is not annoying in this thing? We suffer, the DOG suffers. Yet another fantasy **** old guy being forgiven for his utterly misanthropic actions by a beautiful woman 20 or more years his junior. Maybe some interesting points to be made about the mentally ill, but it isn't comedy and it sure did not need to be this long!
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Oct 27, 2018
C'est Papy Daniel qui est comme notre Tatie Danièle à nous mais en version amerloque : à noter pour vous éviter tout suspense inutile que les deux films sont irrécupérablement mauvais mais que "Pour le pire et pour le meilleur" n'est pas meilleur mais le pire des deux. Et pourtant, ça commence si bien avec l'inénarrable Jack qui campe à merveille ce vieux misanthrope désagréable, raciste, homophobe et paranoïaque compulsif obsessionnel (même son psy n'en veut pas)... Mais attention, "Monsieur Udall", si vous continuez comme ça, vous allez être poursuivi pour incitation à la haine ordinaire et refus du vivre_ensemble ! Evidemment, son voisin est **** et le petit copain du voisin est un homme de couleur avec "le nez aplati pour flairer la bonne tambouille des prisons" (sic !) d'où quelques acrochages... entre voisins. Et j'oubliais, Monsieur Udall déteste les clébards ! Bref, au bout de 5 mn, on l'aime déjà cet homme-là ! Hélas, mille fois hélas, notre vieil aigri va devenir doux comme un agneau et rentrer bien gentiment dans le rang... entouré par le politiquement correct, submergé par l'angélisme du vivre_ensemble, étouffé sous la guimauve qui tourne à plein régime pendant tout le film, il va devenir un bon toutou docile et serviable. Surtout avec la serveuse incarnée par la grue Helen Hunt qui a fort à faire avec son gamin myopathe du sida contaminé et épileptique à ses heures perdues : une vraie "mère-courage" célibataire qui fait fuir à toute blinde tout mâle normalement constitué des environs. Et au-delà. Le film met donc le turbo et en rajoute des couches et des couches dans ce qui constitue un concentré de stupidité et de naiserie... et des discours de donneur de leçons. On en peut plus franchement, même en accéléré... Quel gâchis, car Jack tenait quelque chose avec ce rôle ; ça nous fera donc 1. Juste pour Jack.
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Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 2 Wins & 7 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 3 Wins & 6 Nominations
Online Film & Television Association
• 5 Wins & 11 Nominations
