Hi guys!!! Welcome back to our blog after the Winter recess. Well, here's some more work for you, hopefully one that you will enjoy.
I'm posting several reviews of the movie we've watched As good as it gets. Your task is to either choose one review or parts of different reviews and say why you agree or disagree with it.
Some of them have been shortened and I'm including the source in case you want to read more.
Deadline: a week after we finish with the analysis in class.
http://www.ardemgaz.com/cgi/showreview.pl?Jack+Nicholson~+As+Good+as+It+Getsby PHILIP MARTINARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
James L. Brooks' As Good as It Gets is a precariously balanced movie, one that flirts with smugness. That it isn't awful is in some respects amazing. It is tempting to write it off as one of those designer romantic comedies for readers of The New Yorker, quiche-eaters and the urbane elite. It makes such smug assumptions about its audience, its demographics are so finely tuned: Yes, here we have the brave working-class woman struggling to make it while caring for a sickly child. Here we have the sweet, gay painter who seems more connected to his little dog than any human being. And over here we have the most unpleasant man in the world, an obsessive-compulsive romance novelist who, as movie irony must have it, seems absolutely incapable of love. It could have been one bad chick flick, a predictable smarmathon replete with psychobabble about wounded inner children. It would end with swelling music and a long-deferred kiss. But Brooks is not stupid. He cast Jack Nicholson as the misanthrope and that made all the difference. Now As Good as It Gets is being hailed in some quarters as a leading Academy Award contender. It showed up on a bunch of critics' "10 best" lists. It's a box-office hit. The fact that Nicholson is playing this character tells us something. A canny director can make use of this phenomenon.
http://movies.tvguide.com/good-gets/review/132715You have to admire the sheer audacity of a comedy that opens with a man heaving a little dog down a garbage chute. Dogs, after all -- especially ugly-cute ones that look like they should be auditioning for Gremlins 3 -- are the sacred cows of contemporary Hollywood. That said, Verdell the ankle-biter recovers and proves to be the downfall of his tormentor, Melvin the monster. Melvin (Jack Nicholson) is a cranky, clinically obsessive-compulsive romance writer who lobs atomic bomb-quality put-downs at all who cross his path, including neighbor Simon (Greg Kinnear), who provides plenty of ammo by being gay, an artist and Verdell's indulgent owner. Melvin is simply repugnant, a hideous and self-centered caricature of a human being, and Nicholson's performance is fearlessly repellent. Melvin's rituals include a daily trip to the restaurant where he's served by Carol (Helen Hunt), the only waitress who can stomach his endless abuse. Carol, of course, has her own troubles: She's the single mother of gravely ill Spence (Jesse James). Verdell's vengeance starts when Simon is brutally assaulted by a hustler-turned-model (Skeet Ulrich) and his droogies: Simon's art dealer (Cuba Gooding Jr.) bullies Melvin into tending Verdell while Simon is hospitalized, and to his own amazement, Melvin falls for the scruffy pup. When Simon reclaims Verdell, Melvin shifts his newfound beneficence to Carol, getting Spence to a fancy doctor. While the initial surprise of Nicholson's devastating cruelty gives the impression that anything can happen, the picture settles into an all-too-predictable (and unconvincing) end. "As good as it gets" is 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.
http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/78205/as_good_as_it_gets.htmlThe film may be more ambitious and sophisticated than most Hollywood comedy-dramas, but for all the delight it takes in Melvin's outrageous sarcasm, it never quite eschews cornball cliché. Nicholson gives a committed, credible, typically charismatic performance, and the rest of the cast lends able support. The trouble lies in the rambling narrative, Brooks' cautious direction and the cosy tone which renders the whole thing reminiscent of an extended sitcom.
Author: GA
http://www.darkhorizons.com/reviews/65/As-Good-as-it-Gets By Garth Franklin
Not only one of the best romantic comedies of the year, but one of the best films in ages - "As Good as it Gets" certainly lives up to its title. With a truckload of cynical laughs and some compelling emotional moments, .
The performances are truly great all around, Jack Nicholson gives a career highlight performance as the obsessive-compulsive 'Melvin' who's totally upfront and somewhat . Rarely does the two romantic leads match each other in quality, but Helen Hunt plays her best role yet making her character likable, funny, intelligent and emotional.
Greg Kinnear puts in a surprising and enjoyable performance as 'Simon', a gay artist and neighbour who puts up with Melvin's insults (which fly thick and fast) and like the leads is both funny and emotionally real. Cuba Gooding Jr. does excellent work with his few minutes of screen time, playing a gay art dealer who sells Simon's work and stands up to Melvin whenever he puts Simon down - a guy full of assertiveness and realism that is very rarely given to any gay film characters.
All the remaining supporting roles are enjoyable, ranging from Shirley Knight as Carol's excitable mother who just exudes cheerfulness, Yeardley Smith in a brief but funny cameo (always liked her), and of course the scene-stealer being Verdell who is quite simply the cutest and funniest dog I've ever seen in a movie.
The character-driven script is extremely intelligent, the plot is a bit thin but the pacing is fast and there rarely comes any dull moments. It also doesn't fall into the boring 'schmaltzy' last half hour as so many romantic comedies do, and in fact takes an audacious step by running around 50 minutes longer than most.
Any faults? Well there really isn't any particular scenes that stick in one's memory (eg. the "When Harry met Sally" restaurant-orgasm scene), there are some points where the film drags but quickly picks up again - the best example coming early on involving Kinnear drawing a sketch of Skeet Urlich's character and then being beaten by a gang of robbers.
The unpleasantness of the moment though is lifted by a very funny scene in the hospital involving Kinnear, Gooding Jr. & Smith. "As Good as it Gets" is definitely one of the best films of 1997, and though it just misses becoming a 'classic film, it's still thoroughly entertaining and you'll leave the cinema with a very warm and content feeling.
