Starring Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear and Cuba Gooding Jr. Directed by James L. Brooks Rated PG-13, with profanity and brief violence Running time 138 minutes Jack gives this film a rating of 10 out of 10

(Dec. 25, 1997) -- Just when we begin to worry that wily veteran Jack Nicholson has learned how to phone in movie performances, he gives us a performance that's as good as it gets.

And just when we begin to hunger for a romantic comedy that's offbeat and refreshingly original, along comes one that's as good as it gets.

Maybe that's why they had nerve to call the film As Good As It Gets.

Nicholson stars as Melvin Udall, a mean-spirited, acid-tongued novelist who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. He carries his own silverware into restaurants, locks his apartment door five times a night, never steps on a sidewalk crack, and has a cruel word for just about everyone he encounters.

Melvin is also obsessed about his routine, so he strolls each morning to the same restaurant where he sits at the same table and orders the same breakfast.

And he's lucky, because although nearly everyone in the place hates this often-despicable man, waitress Carol Connelly grudgingly agrees to serve him. She's somehow fascinated by his many eccentricities and even seems to sense some strange spark of decency lurking deep behind his mask of irascibility.

Carol (Helen Hunt) also has her problems, trying as a single mother to care for her seriously asthmatic boy.

Meanwhile, a gay painter Simon Nye (Greg Kinnear) lives with his small, scruffy-looking dog, Verdell, across the hall from Melvin. Simon tries to be civil to his neighbor, even if Melvin has nothing but distaste for gays and dogs.

Despite the potential for bile with such a lead character, Nicholson and writer/director James L. Brooks manage to make Melvin strangely engaging and ultimately likable. As the character becomes drawn into Simon and Carol's lives and problems, they gradually see hope for the man -- and so do we.

And, fortunately, all that redemption is delivered with a ton of robust humor and only the tiniest bit of sentimentality. In that sense, As Good as It Gets more closely resembles the tone of Brooks' previous hit, Broadcast News, more than another, overly sympathetic, Oscar-winning Brooks saga, Terms of Endearment.

Nicholson offers his most complicated, infinitely subtle performance since his great films of the '60s and '70s. He's hilariously sarcastic, a little scary, surprisingly sympathetic, and occasionally obnoxious; he manages to roll all those characteristics into a seamless, well-rounded role.

Hunt is also excellent: She can make us believe in a woman who is strong and self-reliant, but who can also find something in Melvin worth salvaging.

And Kinnear rounds out the lead cast with his best work to date. Though he flirts early with the swishy stereotype of a gay man, he matures nicely in the performance, creating a character with the strength to stand up to Melvin.

Cuba Gooding Jr., Shirley Knight and Skeet Ulrich round out the supporting cast -- and each gets a memorable moment or two. But Gooding seems somewhat wasted on the heels of his electrifying Oscar-winning turn in Jerry Maguire.

It's not easy to summarize the goings-on in As Good As It Gets, because the sum of the movie offers more than the parts of its plots. Suffice to say, Nicholson and company will get your attention, make you laugh -- a lot -- and move you.

Mostly, though, you'll be reminded of why Nicholson became one of the biggest stars of his generation.