finding the courage to face life full-on is a difficult task . 
summoning up the audacity to fall in love is a harder job . 
if you're a total jerk like melvin udall is , the odds are even more against you . 
melvin ( jack nicholson ) is a successful romance author who is just the opposite of what you would expect someone in that profession to be . 
a solitary man hidden away in his new york apartment with no human interaction and not even a hint of ever having been in a passionate relationship , he avoids the outside world as much as possible . 
his obsessive-compulsive disorder rules his life as he uses several different bars of soap to wash his hands and refuses to step on a crack on the sidewalk . 
 ( there's a great scene when he has to cross a floor made of mosaic tiles -- _very_small_ mosaic tiles . ) 
melvin has some great lines . 
when his publisher's receptionist asks him how he writes women so well in his books , he responds " i think of men and i take away reason and accountability . " 
don't get him wrong , he's not merely a misogynist . 
setting his sights higher than that , he's also a homophobe , racist , anti-semite , xenophobe , animal-hater and intensely dislikes people who talk in metaphors . 
when we first meet him , he's busy dumping a neighbor's dog down the garbage chute . 
he's an equal opportunity bigot . 
he does venture outside his apartment every day to eat breakfast at a local cafe . 
melvin is such a grouchy curmudgeon that waitress carol connelly ( helen hunt ) is the only one willing to wait on him . 
and she's none too happy about it . 
when carol doesn't show up for work , melvin's routine is shot and he's determined to do something about it . 
tracking down her address , he shows up at her place begging her to come back to work so that he can eat breakfast . 
the fact that she's a poor single mother caring for a chronically ill son doesn't appear to phase him , he wants his food . 
much more upsetting is that his gay artist neighbor simon bishop ( greg kinnear ) is brutally attacked during a robbery . 
this doesn't upset melvin much ( " don't worry , you'll be back on your knees in no time " ) but when he is bullied into taking care of simon's dog , his life is turned topsy-turvey . 
melvin is sequestered because he's afraid of what's out there on the other side of his apartment door . 
he has to make sure it's ritualistically locked three times to keep the world on its proper side . 
when he brings the dog home he reluctantly grows fond of it , talking to it and taking it everywhere he goes . 
this little crack in his emotional armor opens him up . 
hiding behind his need for carol to return to work so she can serve him , he pays for a specialist to treat her son . 
he even develops a friendship with simon . 
all three people are heavily damaged . 
melvin has retreated from life in his apartment . 
carol has devoted herself to her son , convinced that she has to give up her life for him . 
simon is estranged from his parents and his friends disappear when he is hospitalized and his money runs out . 
a more unlikely trio to form relationships , you'd rarely see . 
and in the midst of it all , there are some wonderful moments . 
melvin is hilarious in his grouchiness and touching as he attempts to be nice . 
 " you make me want to be a better man , " he tells her . 
one of the best aspects is that even as he opens up , he is still a curmudgeon . 
carol , afraid that his monetary contribution to the wellness of her son hides a hidden agenda rushes over to his apartment in the rain to explain in no uncertain terms that she will never sleep with him . 
it only takes her a second to realize that she is delivering that statement while looking as if she just left a wet t-shirt contest . 
there's hardly anything left to say about jack nicholson . 
i don't remember ever seeing him in anything less than a stellar performance and his over-the-edge melvin is no disappointment . 
nicholson may be the best actor working today . 
hunt does a commendable job matching nicholson's energy . 
she isn't afraid to be seen as something less than a babe and her portrayal of exhausted run-down carol struggling with seemingly overwhelming obligations is top-notch . 
their on-screen chemistry is a bit odd . 
each does a wonderful job with the character , but together , there's something a little off . 
it's a minor problem : they do work well together , but that missing element is what prevents this from being a four-star film . 
director james l . brooks ( " terms of endearment " , " broadcast news " ) has a movie that is picking up awards by the bucketsful ( nominees for all the top golden globes , winners from the national board of review , inevitable oscars ) and has a winner on his hands . 
 " as good as it gets " isn't exactly the quality that the title says , but it's pretty darn close . 
 ( michael redman has written this column for over 22 years and as soon as he finishes this one , he's off to an annual 12 night celebration typically held in freezing weather during a snowstorm . 
this year it's in the sixties and raining . 
that wacky el nino . )