As Good as It Gets

Cinephile deep dive

The take

James L. Brooks directs. John Bailey behind the camera. Hans Zimmer scores. Richard Marks cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Mid-budget at $50M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
• 2Made its money back 6.3× over at the box office.
• 329 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 4265+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
• 5Directed by James L. Brooks, shot by John Bailey. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 6Original score by Hans Zimmer. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 7Editor Richard Marks shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 8Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear carry the top of the cast.
• 9Marketing tagline: "A comedy from the heart that goes for the throat.".
• 10IMDB entry: tt0119822 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 11Classified under 30 themes, including "new york city", "friendship", "waitress", "single parent".
• 12Released under 18 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

John Bailey

Original score

Hans Zimmer

Editing

Richard Marks

Production design

Bill Brzeski

Makeup / hair

Linda Arnold

VFX supervisor

Tim McGovern

Sound

Mark Smith

Stunt coordinator

Walter Scott

Runtime

139 min · 2h 19m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$50,000,000

Box office

$314,178,011

Return

628% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

As Good as It Gets (1997) ↗

Also by

James L. Brooks

• 
  Terms of Endearment

  1983 · ★ 7.1
• 
  Broadcast News

  1987 · ★ 6.8
• 
  Spanglish

  2004 · ★ 6.1
• 
  I'll Do Anything

  1994 · ★ 5.6
• 
  Ella McCay

  2025 · ★ 5.5
• 
  How Do You Know

  2010 · ★ 5.3

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official
• 

  ▶
  Chris Wilkinson on As Good As It Gets

  Featurette
• 

  ▶
  Jack Nicholson winning an Oscar® for "As Good as it Gets"

  Featurette · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Andre Gonzales2023-04-18
  ★ 6/10

  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 prick in this movie.

  Read full review ↓
• Rob2023-05-19
  ★ 8/10

  This movie will hit you hard, force you to think about your biases and make you pretty damn uncomfortable. But don't fret, you'll feel better by the end. And Nicholson is so natural as a misanthrope.

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2023-05-28
  ★ 7/10

  Greg Kinnear ("Simon") finds himself in hospital after a brutal bit of gay-bashing, and that means that his small, yappie, dog ("Jill") has to be entrusted to his rather curmudgeonly, author neighbour "Melvin" (Jack Nicholson) - not exactly the most loving and obvious of choices. Now this latter guy isn't exactly flavour of the month - indeed it's really only waitress "Carol" (Helen Hunt) who will put up with his selfish and churlish behaviour. When her young son becomes ill, she has to take time off and "Melvin" finds himself truly alone - with no breakfast! The solution, well all three of them take a trip and, well, you can imagine that with Nicholson and Hunt on super form here, Kinnear clearly thriving as their foil, and a screenplay from James L. Brooks at his best, we get an highly entertaining and earthy hybrid of comedy and the most unlikely semblance of romance as the three realise that there is so much more to life than any realised was possible. It's a wee bit long, but the characterisations are rich and engaging and there is a genuine chemistry on screen between all three - and the dog! It's a feel good film that has some serious undercurrents but those are dealt with in a fashion that is potent but not preachy and provides us with food-for-thought wrapped in a smile. Definitely worth watching.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  TriStar Pictures

  US

• 

  Gracie Films

  US

Key crew

• StuntsFelipe Savahge
• StuntsPhil O'Dell
• MusicianArmen Ksajikian
• Property MasterMark Wade
• Script SupervisorRay Quiroz
• Stunt CoordinatorWalter Scott
• Associate ProducerMaria Kavanaugh
• Associate ProducerAldric La'Auli Porter
• ProducerKristi Zea
• Executive ProducerLaurence Mark
• Executive ProducerRichard Sakai
• Co-ProducerJohn D. Schofield
• Co-ProducerRichard Marks
• Executive ProducerLaura Ziskin
• ProducerBridget Johnson
• Stunt CoordinatorKen Fritz
• Second Assistant DirectorWilliam M. Connor
• Set DresserJohn Maskovich
• Supervising Sound EditorDavid Giammarco
• Unit Production ManagerJohn 'Jake' Jacobson
• First Assistant DirectorAldric La'Auli Porter
• Unit Production ManagerJohn D. Schofield
• Assistant Art DirectorMasako Masuda
• Assistant Set DecorationBrana Rosenfeld

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• new york city
• friendship
• waitress
• single parent
• restaurant
• lone wolf
• dogsitter
• road trip
• racist
• neighbor
• author
• obsessive compulsive disorder (ocd)
• single mother
• home invasion
• dog
• novelist
• art dealer
• rude
• obnoxious
• unlikely friendship
• hospitalization
• painter as artist
• generosity
• mother son relationship
• dog owner
• gay artist
• unexpected romance
• daily routine
• child with illness
• homophobic

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1997-12-19PG-13
• Physical1998-05-19PG-13· DVD Release

Also known as

International titles

• Mejor ImposibleSV
• Old FriendsUS
• 이보다 더 좋을순 없다KR
• Melhor é ImpossívelPT
• Pour le pire et pour le meilleurCA
• Mejor... imposibleAR
• 尽善尽美CN
• Bolje ne možeHR
• Lepší už to nebudeCZ
• Det bli'r ikke bedreDK
• Enam paremaks minna ei saaEE
• Elämä on ihanaaFI
• Pour le pire et pour le meilleurFR
• Besser geht's nichtDE
• 恋愛小説家JP