Movie · 1997 · Drama, Comedy, Romance · 2h 19m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 5.8/10 (551.2K ratings)
A comedy from the heart that goes for the throat.
Overview
A misanthropic author, a single mother and waitress, and a gay artist form an unlikely friendship after the artist is assaulted in a robbery.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.8/10
IMDb: 7.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.62/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
Metacritic: 67
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
James L. Brooks
Production
TriStar Pictures, Gracie Films
Cast
Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., Shirley Knight, Jesse James, Yeardley Smith, Lupe Ontiveros, Skeet Ulrich, Harold Ramis, Lawrence Kasdan, Bibi Osterwald, Ross Bleckner, Bernadette Balagtas, Jaffe Cohen, Laurie Kilpatrick, Alice Vaughn, Brian Doyle-Murray, Kristi Zea, Annie Maginnis Tippe
Curator Review
Verdict
A sharp, highly watchable star vehicle with terrific performances and a lot of late-90s studio-movie polish, but its handling of mental illness, disability, and prejudice feels dated and sometimes uneasy. It’s worth it for the acting, the comic rhythms, and the oddball chemistry, even if the script’s empathy can feel selective.
Best for
fans of performance-driven character comedies
viewers who like prickly, talky romance
people interested in 1990s mainstream adult dramas
audiences who can separate craft from outdated attitudes
Skip if
you’re sensitive to casual ableism or stigmatized portrayals of mental illness
you want a romance that feels modern and emotionally clean
you dislike abrasive protagonists who are eventually softened by the plot
you prefer ensemble stories where every supporting character gets equal depth
Overview
James L. Brooks makes this feel like a big, glossy studio movie that still has room for awkwardness, tenderness, and real comic bite. The film lives or dies on its performances, and Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, and Greg Kinnear all make the material more humane than it might look on the page. There’s an easy, old-fashioned confidence to the filmmaking that keeps it moving even when the script is trying to do too much at once.
Worth noting
What hasn’t aged as gracefully is the movie’s moral architecture. It wants to be about growth, connection, and the possibility of change, but it often frames that change through a pretty uncomfortable mix of illness, cruelty, and redemption. That tension is part of why the film still provokes strong reactions: it is genuinely entertaining, but also deeply of its era in ways that are hard to ignore.
Bottom line
If you’re in the mood for a polished character comedy with real star power and a few surprisingly tender turns, it still plays well. If you need your romantic dramedies to feel ethically current, you may find yourself admiring the craft while resisting the premise.
Top Letterboxd reviews
kayla (4★) · 3199 likes
I like really wanted this to be about Jack Nicholson becoming a better person because of a little dog
cinéfila... 🕯️ (3.5★) · 1883 likes
when jack nicholson burst into a psychiatrist's office and just yelled "HELP" at the top of his lungs... that was a bigass mood
also verdell is the goodest boy in cinema history!!!
Carlos (3★) · 1436 likes
nobody wants to fuck jack nicholson this badly
Will (3★) · 1175 likes
So... he won the Oscar for this... but he didn’t even get a nomination... for The Shining... right... ok...
2001 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 50m · R · Curator 8.4/10 (1.2M ratings)
For its eccentric characters, wounded relationships, and deadpan comedy around family dysfunction.
Topics
1990s, romantic dramedy, character study, studio comedy, awkward humor, adult relationships, mental health, redemption arc, New York City, ensemble drama