Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Obsessive-compulsive writer living next door to a gay painter in York discovers that he actually contains kindness.
Biased, pithy comments: This is a heck of a film. Brooks knows when to hit all the buttons, from cringing awkwardness to bitterness to sadness, sprinkling it all with racous seemingly unintentional humor. Every time the movie would have launched into bathos, it pulls up and lets us enjoy these characters bouncing off one another in extremely unexpected ways. I had a few problems; I know enough about obsessive-compulsives to find Nicholson's portrayal of them somewhat more Nicholson than compulsive, Nicholson and Hunt don't quite work together in romance, and Kinear's stitches are intentionally Frankenstein-ish---having had zillions of stitches in my face, I know they try to make them smaller. But I'm quibbling---this is a good film with solid performances that starts New York-angry and ends hopefully.
Other Notes: Hunt and Nicholson score best actor and actress Oscars for this film. Major goof with the top of the convertible.
How many times I have seen it: x1.7
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., Skeet Ulrich.
Directed by: James L. Brooks