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Dom Robinson reviews
Columbia TriStar
- Cat.no: CDR 96461
- Cert: 15
- Running time: 133 minutes
- Year: 1997
- Pressing: 1998
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 28 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround
- Languages: English, German (both DD 5.1)
- Subtitles: 14 different languages available
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 9
- Price: £19.99
- Extras : Scene index, Theatrical trailer, Filmographies,Director’s Commentary.
Director:
- James L. Brooks
(Broadcast News, I’ll Do Anything, Terms of Endearment, The War of the Roses)
Producers:
- Bridget Johnson and Kristi Lea
Screenplay:
- Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks
Music:
- Hans Zimmer
Cast:
- Melvin Udall: Jack Nicholson (Batman (1989), Blood And Wine, Chinatown, The Crossing Guard, Easy Rider, A Few Good Men, Hoffa, Little Shop Of Horrors (1960), Man Trouble, Mars Attacks !, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, The Shining,The Two Jakes, The Witches Of Eastwick, Wolf)
Carol Connelly: Helen Hunt (Bob Roberts, Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Kiss Of Death (1995), Mr. Saturday Night, Peggy Sue Got Married, Project X, Twister, The Waterdance, TV: Mad About You)
Simon Bishop: Greg Kinnear (Dear God, Sabrina, A Smile Like Yours, You’ve Got Mail)
Frank Sachs: Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Boyz In The Hood, A Few Good Men, Gladiator, Jerry Maguire, Judgement Night, Lightning Jack, Outbreak, The Tuskagee Airmen)
Vincent: Skeet Ulrich (Albino Alligator, The Newton Boys, Scream, Touch)
As Good As It Getspresents you with Melvin, the most appalling individual in the world. He’srude, blunt, insensitive – especially if it helps him to get his own way such assitting at his usual restaurant table – and the age of political correctness hasdefinitely passed him by. He is expertly played by Jack Nicholson who givesan engaging performance of an obsessive-compulsive novelist, whose life throws upone challenge after another, in his eyes.
When his neighbour, Simon (Sabrina‘s Greg Kinnear), is beaten upbeyond recognition and put in hospital, there’s no-one left to put up with his smellymutt..I mean, look after his charming dog, except Melvin who looks upon the task asper my former description. However, this makes the turning point in his life – thatand his relationship with the waitress who attends to his usual table, CarolConnelly, played by Helen Hunt, co-star of Jan De Bont’s actioner Twisterand the much-underrated sitcom Mad About You. Simon’s not the only homosexualcharacter that Melvin takes a swipe at – there’s also his partner Frank (CubaGooding Jr., winner of Best Supporting Actor for Jerry Maguire), while hedoesn’t get a chance to intimidate Vincent (Scream‘s Skeet Ulrich).There’s also cameos from Harold Ramis, one of the stars of bothGhostbusters films and director of Multiplicity, as Dr. Bettes andYeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson in one of my favourite programmes,The Simpsons.
There are scores of classic one-liners here too, most of which come from Jack, suchas the time when his publisher’s receptionist, a big fan of his work – a shame thesame can’t be said of the lady she works for – summons up the courage to ask thequestion she’s been dying to know the answer to :
- – “How do you write women so well ?”
– “I think of a man…and I take away..reason and accountability (!)”
The picture quality is very good most of the time although dark interior shotsshow some artifacts which aren’t too bad from the usual viewing distance and canbe lessened if your TV has a noise-reduction facility. The film is presented inits original widescreen ratio of 1.85:1, is enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions- thus allowing for 33% higher resolution – and the average bitrate is a very good6.96 Mb/s, occasionally peaking over 9Mb/s.
Not being an action picture, the sound won’t rock the walls, but it comes acrosscrystal-clear and with a score by Hans Zimmer. Both languages, English andGerman, are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1.
Extras : Chapters/Theatrical Trailers :There are 28 chapters, which happens more often than not for a Columbia DVD, duringthe 133 minutes of the film, so it could use a few more, including a separate onefor the end credits. The original theatrical trailer is also included. Languages/Subtitles :There’s two languages on the disc, English and German, both available inDolby Digital 5.1, with a Dolby surround option also offered in English.As for subtitles? Take your pick from the following FOURTEEN languages :English, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Icelandic, Hindi, Hebrew, German, Turkish,Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Greek and Norwegian. The English subtitles do an okayjob of summarising the dialogue, but lose the flow of most of Melvin’s verboseput-downs. Filmographies :Brief filmographies are available for Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Kinnear,Gooding Jr. and director James L. Brooks. Director’s Commentary :A feature-length commentary track is available, and subtitled in English orGerman if required, taking the views of not only James L. Brooks, but also theprincipal cast members, Nicholson, Hunt and Kinnear. Menu :The menu is static and silent but easy to negotiate. On playing the disc yousee the Columbia TriStar logo before the main menu appears.
Upon selecting the “Start Movie” option, you’ll first see a “Sony PicturesDVD Center” logo, followed by the Dolby Digital helicopter demo, the copyrightlogo and then the film itself.
Overall, this is a very entertaining film, although it slows down the pace inthe second half, with two great leads who both won Oscars for their actingability. Judging by the extras on this disc, they mirror the Region 1 release,so this DVD is ‘as good as it gets’.
FILM : ****PICTURE QUALITY: ****SOUND QUALITY: ****EXTRAS: ***——————————-OVERALL: ****
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1999.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.