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© DR -AS GOOD AS IT GETS de James.L.Brooks (1997) p6
11/04/2013 17:22
LA CRITIQUE
La note de Cinopsis: **
Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) est un écrivain solitaire. S'il est seul, cela ne semble pas trop lui peser, bien au contraire. Il est totalement misanthrope et passe son temps à vexer tous les gens qui se trouvent sur son chemin.A commencer par son voisin de palier, Simon Nye (Greg Kinnear, A Smile Like Yours), qui est un peintre adulé par le tout New-York, mais qui, pour son malheur, est gay. Il est donc la cible rêvée pour ce mufle sans manières qu'est Melvin.
La seule personne qui soit capable d'encaisser les sarcasmes du romancier, c'est la serveuse du restaurant (Helen Hunt) où, tous les jours, Melvin va prendre son déjeuner. Ces trois personnages vont être réunis grâce à Verdell, un horrible petit cabot au charme certain.S'il est un rôle qui pouvait être taillé exactement à la mesure d'un acteur, c'est bien celui de Melvin Udall pour Jack Nicholson. Muflerie, talent et vulnérabilité sont les principales"qualités" de ce personnage à l'éternel sourire de fauve, qui dit sans cesse: "Ne vous approchez pas où je vous bouffe tout cru!".
Mais on rit de son cynisme et de ses réparties, on est ému et dérangé par la justesse de ton. On aimerait, de temps à autres, être à la place de ce Melvin pour dire à certaines personnes ce qu'on ne dit jamais tout haut. Fort heureusement pour nous Melvin a un coeur, et le premier qui parviendra à le toucher c'est cet horrible petit chien qu'il commence par jeter au vide-ordures parce qu'il pisse devant sa porte (juste retour des choses?).
C'est le plus simple, puisqu'un chien ne peut pas répondre aux remarques acérées de ce vieux célibataire, obsédé par l'ordre et les microbes, maniaque au dernier degré. Observez sa façon de marcher, elle rappelle celle des enfants baignés dans leurs jeux intérieurs.D'excellents moments de comédie et générosité font de ce film un petit bijou à ne pas rater. Un seul mauvais point pour la fin un peu trop sucrée.
Marina Bergamelli
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© DR -AS GOOD AS IT GETS de James.L.Brooks (1997) p7
11/04/2013 17:27
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© DR -AS GOOD AS IT GETS de James.L.Brooks (1997) p8
11/04/2013 17:32
La critique de Reelviews/Movies reviews
As Good as It Gets is a perfect Christmas release, not because the story takes place during the Yule season, but because many of the plot elements are straight out of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. There's more than just a little Scrooge in Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), the most unpleasant man in Manhattan.
And, like Scrooge, the unwilling sinner is on the road to redemption. Instead of four ghosts, we have four living, breathing entities (one woman, two men, and a dog), but the result is the same. By the time we leave the theater, the warmth of love has melted the coldest heart on Earth. That's the reason this is called a "feel good" movie.
As Good as It Gets is really two related movies in one, which explains the surprisingly long running time. While 138 minutes is fine for an epic adventure or a weighty drama, it makes a lightweight effort like this seem a little bloated. The film is ambitious: it tries to wed the modern-day, non-supernatural A Christmas Carol with a traditional romantic comedy.
Director James L. Brooks, who does these kinds of movies as well as anyone in Hollywood, has moderate success. As Good as It Gets is not a positive triumph, but it does bring a smile to the face and, perhaps in some cases, a tear to the eye.
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© DR -AS GOOD AS IT GETS de James.L.Brooks (1997) p9
12/04/2013 05:32
La critique de Reelviews/Movies reviews(suite)
Jack Nicholson plays Melvin, a successful author who lives the life of a recluse. When the movie opens, he's depicted as so thoroughly rotten that it actually becomes difficult to root for him, even once he begins to mend his ways.He's a homophobic, anti-Semitic racist with an intense dislike of dogs (he throws one down a garbage chute) and people. Every time he opens his mouth, something vicious comes out. The neighbors in his Greenwich Village apartment building all avoid him, and the waitress at his favorite restaurant barely tolerates his presence.
To make matters worse, Melvin is afflicted with an obsessive/compulsive disorder that makes his behavior seem even more strange.He brings his own utensils when he goes out to dinner he refuses to step on sidewalk cracks, and he wears gloves all the time.Then something happens to change Melvin's life. One of his neighbors, a gay artist named Simon (Greg Kinnear), is beaten up by a group of robbers. Simon's dealer, Frank (Cuba Gooding Jr.), forces Melvin to care for Simon's dog.
Gradually, Melvin comes to love the little animal, and, after discovering a previously-unsuspected wellspring of humanity deep within himself, he begins exercising it in other ways: paying a doctor to care for the sick son of his regular waitress, Carol (Helen Hunt),and offering Simon support when he comes home from the hospital. Of course, no one can change overnight, and there are times when the old Melvin rears his ugly head, leading to plot complications.
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© DR -AS GOOD AS IT GETS de James.L.Brooks (1997) p10
12/04/2013 05:38
La critique de Reelviews/Movies reviews(suite2)
Nicholson is wonderful as Melvin the jerk. He delivers the acid one-liners with real venom, has perfected the irritating mannerisms of an obsessive/compulsive individual, and generally makes it easy to accept the character as the last person you'd want to spend any time with.
As the kinder, gentler Melvin, however, he's not quiet as successful. Vulnerability doesn't come easy to Nicholson,and the prickly side of his personality interferes with our acceptance of Melvin as a new man. We get the feeling that as soon as the end credits roll, he's going to fall back into his old habits rather quickly.
He does have some great lines, though. (For example, when explaining how he writes women so well in his books, Melvin comments, "I think of a man, then I take away reason and accountability.")"Je pense comme un homme et je soustrait la logique et le sens des responsabilités"
Helen Hunt, last seen on the big screen in Twister but best known for her role in TV's "Mad About You", gives real breadth and depth to Carol, a woman who lives to serve her son and who doesn't know how to cope with Melvin's attention.
Like Melvin, the events in As Good as It Gets transform Carol, but her gentler, gradual personality shift is more believable. Hunt does a good job portraying Carol's weariness early in the film, followed by an almost-childlike joy as she rediscovers herself. Alas, she and Nicholson never really click, which puts something of a damper on the romantic storyline.
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