As Good as It Gets (1997)

As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by James L. Brooks and produced by Laura Ziskin. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with an asthmatic son, and Greg Kinnear as a homosexual artist. The screenplay was written by Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks. The film was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won the Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress. It is the second film of the 1990s to win both of these awards, following The Silence of the Lambs in 1991, and is currently the last film to have won both acting categories. It is ranked 140th on Empire magazine's "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time" list.

Melvin Udall is a misanthrope who works at home as a best-selling romance novelist in New York. He suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder which, paired with his misanthropy, puts off the neighbors in his Manhattan apartment building and nearly everyone else with whom he comes into contact. Melvin eats breakfast at the same table in the same restaurant every day using disposable plastic utensils he brings with him due to his pathological germophobia. He takes an interest in his waitress, Carol Connelly (Helen Hunt), the only server at the restaurant who can tolerate his demanding behavior. One day, Melvin's neighbor, a gay artist named Simon Bishop (Greg Kinnear), is assaulted. Melvin is forced to take care of the artist's dog Verdell while Simon is in the hospital. Although he initially finds caring for the dog distasteful, Melvin becomes emotionally attached to Verdell as he simultaneously gains more attention from Carol. When Carol decides to get a job closer to Brooklyn so she can spend more time with her acutely asthmatic son (Jesse James), Melvin arranges to pay for her son's medical expenses, albeit for his own selfish reasons. Wary of owing Melvin for this gesture, Carol takes the train to his apartment in the middle of the night to tell him that she will not sleep with him. In the meantime, Simon's assault and subsequent rehabilitation, coupled with the fact that Verdell seems to actually prefer Melvin, causes him to lose his creative muse. Having no medical insurance, mounting hospital bills and facing eviction from his apartment due to unpaid rent, his friends convince him that he should go to Baltimore and ask his estranged parents for money. However, in order to do this, Simon needs Melvin to drive. Melvin invites Carol to accompany them on the trip to lessen the awkwardness between the two men and so he can court Carol romantically. She reluctantly accepts the invitation and relationships among the three develop. After returning to New York City, Carol tells Melvin that she doesn't want him in her life anymore. She later regrets her statement and calls him to apologize. The relationship between Melvin and Carol remains complicated until Simon, whom Melvin has allowed to move in with him until he can get a new apartment, convinces Melvin to declare his love for her at her apartment in Brooklyn, where the two realize the depth of their personal connection. The film ends with Melvin and Carol taking a walk together to buy fresh rolls at the corner bakery.