RomComs (1 of 2) - "Thank you, Melvin. You overwhelm me."
I did a huge post yesterday and then didn't feel good after work, so I'm posting yesterday's movie today, as well as posting today's movie (hopefully) today.
This is one of only seven movies to win both Best Actor and Best Actress at the Oscars, and it's the most recent film to do so (the first to do so was the movie that started this series, incidentally). Also, "House, M.D." fans might notice Lisa "Cuddy" Edelstein as a patron in the restaurant where Carol works.
Okay, that'll do for trivia. :P
As Good as It Gets
Melvin Udall is the most unlikely author of powder puff romances in the history of the universe. But for some reason, this is what he does, and he does it well enough to make a very good living. Melvin is more than just a crotchedy old(ish) man. He has an obsessive compulsive disorder. He has a Howard Hughes-y compulsion with cleanliness. He goes out of the normal way to avoid cracks in the sidewalk. When he shuts the door of his apartment, he locks and unlocks the deadbolt a certain number of times. This, along with his writing, makes up almost all of his life.
The only other things in his life are his visits to a psychiatrist and his daily patronship of a certain restaurant. He goes to this restaurant and sits at the same table every day so that he can be waited on by Carol. He knows a little about her, as much as any of us might know about a server we see regularly at an eating place we often go to. This restaurant is part of his routine. Until Carol is mysteriously out one day, an event which turns Melvin's world upside down and starts his journey toward honest-to-goodness humanity. Around this time, Melvin is also pressured into taking care of his neighbor's dog for several days. This is also, in its own way, a life-changing experience for him.
This movie is about Melvin being slowly "evicted," as he calls it, from his life, from everything he knows. Here is an incorrigibly misanthropic individual, and through the course of the movie, he is transformed into a person who cares about and needs other people. Of course, saying it like that makes it sound like the most sentimental piece of schmaltz ever, but it is presented in a very clever way. The director, James L. Brooks, knows just when to play it soft and just when to clobber you and smack you out of it.
The cast is exceptionally strong in this movie. Obviously, it can't hurt when you start with Jack Nicholson. This is kind of a flagship movie for many people who like to complain about how older male actors have younger love interests and that it's rarely vice versa. But I can't help loving Nicholson and Helen Hunt in this. I don't think of Carol as younger, really. Younger in years, yes, but in some ways she's older than Melvin. Helen Hunt is wonderful in this, though occasionally her accent is a bit off or heavy or something. And this is the movie responsible for the term "Oscar-nominee Greg Kinnear." :P I vaguely remember his portrayal of a gay character being criticized, but I can't remember why. I thought it was a rather brilliant performance myself, and a well-written, complex role, as opposed to a "token gay character." The three leads work really well together, and their interplay is amazing to watch.
This is one of the few truly great modern romantic comedies. I think this is mainly because the romance is not the only thing the film is about. You've got three really meaty characters that you care deeply about, and watching them bristle at and warm to each other is what makes the movie enjoyable.
Great Moments in Dialogue:
Melvin: I've got a really great compliment for you, and it's true.
Carol: I'm so afraid you're about to say something awful.
Melvin: Don't be pessimistic, it's not your style. Okay, here I go: Clearly, a mistake. I've got this, what - ailment? My doctor, a shrink that I used to go to all the time, he says that in fifty or sixty percent of the cases, a pill really helps. I *hate* pills, very dangerous thing, pills. Hate. I'm using the word "hate" here, about pills. Hate. My compliment is, that night when you came over and told me that you would never... well, you were there, you know what you said. Well, my compliment to you is, the next morning, I started taking the pills.
Carol: I don't quite get how that's a compliment for me.
Melvin: You make me want to be a better man.
Carol: ...That's maybe the best compliment of my life.
Melvin: Well, maybe I overshot a little, because I was aiming at just enough to keep you from walking out.
"Awwww!" Moment: Oddly, not a Melvin and Carol moment. I lose it EVERY time I see the scene near the end where Melvin takes Simon to the spare room and it's all set up with all of his stuff.
This is one of only seven movies to win both Best Actor and Best Actress at the Oscars, and it's the most recent film to do so (the first to do so was the movie that started this series, incidentally). Also, "House, M.D." fans might notice Lisa "Cuddy" Edelstein as a patron in the restaurant where Carol works.
Okay, that'll do for trivia. :P
As Good as It Gets
Melvin Udall is the most unlikely author of powder puff romances in the history of the universe. But for some reason, this is what he does, and he does it well enough to make a very good living. Melvin is more than just a crotchedy old(ish) man. He has an obsessive compulsive disorder. He has a Howard Hughes-y compulsion with cleanliness. He goes out of the normal way to avoid cracks in the sidewalk. When he shuts the door of his apartment, he locks and unlocks the deadbolt a certain number of times. This, along with his writing, makes up almost all of his life.
The only other things in his life are his visits to a psychiatrist and his daily patronship of a certain restaurant. He goes to this restaurant and sits at the same table every day so that he can be waited on by Carol. He knows a little about her, as much as any of us might know about a server we see regularly at an eating place we often go to. This restaurant is part of his routine. Until Carol is mysteriously out one day, an event which turns Melvin's world upside down and starts his journey toward honest-to-goodness humanity. Around this time, Melvin is also pressured into taking care of his neighbor's dog for several days. This is also, in its own way, a life-changing experience for him.
This movie is about Melvin being slowly "evicted," as he calls it, from his life, from everything he knows. Here is an incorrigibly misanthropic individual, and through the course of the movie, he is transformed into a person who cares about and needs other people. Of course, saying it like that makes it sound like the most sentimental piece of schmaltz ever, but it is presented in a very clever way. The director, James L. Brooks, knows just when to play it soft and just when to clobber you and smack you out of it.
The cast is exceptionally strong in this movie. Obviously, it can't hurt when you start with Jack Nicholson. This is kind of a flagship movie for many people who like to complain about how older male actors have younger love interests and that it's rarely vice versa. But I can't help loving Nicholson and Helen Hunt in this. I don't think of Carol as younger, really. Younger in years, yes, but in some ways she's older than Melvin. Helen Hunt is wonderful in this, though occasionally her accent is a bit off or heavy or something. And this is the movie responsible for the term "Oscar-nominee Greg Kinnear." :P I vaguely remember his portrayal of a gay character being criticized, but I can't remember why. I thought it was a rather brilliant performance myself, and a well-written, complex role, as opposed to a "token gay character." The three leads work really well together, and their interplay is amazing to watch.
This is one of the few truly great modern romantic comedies. I think this is mainly because the romance is not the only thing the film is about. You've got three really meaty characters that you care deeply about, and watching them bristle at and warm to each other is what makes the movie enjoyable.
Great Moments in Dialogue:
Melvin: I've got a really great compliment for you, and it's true.
Carol: I'm so afraid you're about to say something awful.
Melvin: Don't be pessimistic, it's not your style. Okay, here I go: Clearly, a mistake. I've got this, what - ailment? My doctor, a shrink that I used to go to all the time, he says that in fifty or sixty percent of the cases, a pill really helps. I *hate* pills, very dangerous thing, pills. Hate. I'm using the word "hate" here, about pills. Hate. My compliment is, that night when you came over and told me that you would never... well, you were there, you know what you said. Well, my compliment to you is, the next morning, I started taking the pills.
Carol: I don't quite get how that's a compliment for me.
Melvin: You make me want to be a better man.
Carol: ...That's maybe the best compliment of my life.
Melvin: Well, maybe I overshot a little, because I was aiming at just enough to keep you from walking out.
"Awwww!" Moment: Oddly, not a Melvin and Carol moment. I lose it EVERY time I see the scene near the end where Melvin takes Simon to the spare room and it's all set up with all of his stuff.