One of the nominations for best picture at the Academy Awards held earlier this year was "As Good As It Gets". While it failed to pick up an Oscar for best picture, it did win Best Actor and Best Actress Oscars for the two lead performers, Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunter. The performance of these two actors in this quirky romantic comedy will not only leave you grinning, but also with a bit of insight into what can make relationships of all types work.

Nicholson plays the part of Melvin Udall, a successful romantic fiction novelist who suffers from a Manic Compulsive disorder. The best two words to describe his character are intolerant and intolerable. No-one is spared his acid tongue, from his gay neighbor to almost anyone he encounters on the street or finds sitting in his favorite seat in his regular diner.

He’ll only be served in this diner by his preferred waitress, Carol Connelly, who is the only waitress willing to put up with his unbearable insults and weird habits. Connelly’s life is affected by sickness as well, but in her case by the chronic asthma suffered by her son.

How the relationship between these two characters gradually opens Udall to a more normal ability to get on with people and conduct himself in society is at times hilarious and touching. Jack Nicholson is at his manic best, and Helen Hunter turns in a brilliant performance too. This character driven romantic comedy, backed up by one of the best scripts in recent years will more than satisfy anｙ romantic comedy or Nicholson fan.