"As Good As It Gets" is as good as it gets! A great date movie. A great movie. Period. Jack Nicholson, Greg Kinnear, Helen Hunt and Cuba Gooding appear in career best roles. Written and directed by James Brooks in what must be a career best for him as well. Awesome, funny, touching, insightful. A great insight into the male dating psyche.

What an endorsement--can't wait to rent it!

Paul, I'm kind of confused. Jack N.'s character is hardly a typical male, is he? The man has serious problems. Actually, none of those people are what I'd consider typical, not even Cuba's less-defined art dealer. Sorry if I'm giving away too much of the movie here (skip it if you haven't seen or want to be surprised). While it might be a good date movie, because it's about love expanding your horizons, it's not what commercials and previous movies are leading people to believe it is. I thought the whole thing was pretty dark comedy, if you can even call it comedy.

**** Spoiler Alert **** you may not want to read this if you have not yet seen the movie Roger Ebert said "This film, co-written with Mark Andrus, creates memorable people, but is not quite willing to follow them down unconventional paths. It's almost painful, watching the screenplay stretch and contort these characters to fit them somehow into a conventional formula--they're dragged toward the happy ending, screaming and kicking all the way." And he says the ending feels like a blackout, seconds before more unhappiness begins. One of the "lost opportunies" in this film that forcibly stuck to it's formulaic course, despite opportunities to break open new territory. I still have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it.

And Cissy Spacek wasn't even in it! *wink*

You must have heard about my celebrity encounter at La Zona Rosa!

how long ago? how does she look?

Long time ago. Great!

that is cool... she's truly among our (texas) national treasures...

I thoroughly enjoyed AS GOOD AS IT GETS. It's a real movie with a real script and a real director with real acting. It's an old-fashioned movie but with a 90's twist. They rarely make authentic films like this anymore. I enjoyed everyone's performance especially the scenes between Jack Nicholson and Greg Kinnear. Greg is a real constrast from his SABRINA days. This movie is a reminder of what the movies are all about.

I agree, Alicia, I must see movie among the current batch. I haven't even seen Titanic yet, but this stands out as the one movie to see currently. And I'm not a big Nicholson or Helen Hunt fan but they turned in *great* performances as did Kinnear. Even the little dog did great.

am gonna have to see this one now, since the little dog did great *wink*. Like Nicholson, but not everything he's done. And still have to see the Titanic.....

Yep, I still have to see Titanic too but it's unlikely. I have very little tolerance for long movies. I can't stand it especially in a movie theater. I guess I'll have to wait for it on video. Anyway, I love the dog in AS GOOD AS IT GETS. Very adorable. It has a very good trainer.

Thanks for the Ebert words, Terry, I hadn't seen any reviews. I thought the movie was worthwhile, I just felt betrayed by promos on TV (and the trailer in the theaters, too) that made it seem like a lighthearted romp. Instead, there were all these disturbed people and things never did seem like they would work out for any of them. I guess I should just be happy that the script didn't call for the son to die and the dog to run away. Sometimes it seems like the marketing of a movie is what really bothers me about the film, not the movie itself. Has anyone else been watching VH-1? The TITANIC commercials on that station are like a music video for the much-overplayed-in-my-area song, focusing heavily on the love story, while commercials on other stations are for an action-adventure film (POISEDON TITANIC would be the title, I think).

Oops. Hard to be a smart-aleck when you can't spell.