As Good As It Gets

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Of the 41 films I saw at SBIFF, this was the most strikingly original. I don't want to say much about the plot--and I have to admit that when I read the synopsis in the festival program, I wasn't at all interested in it. I saw it on the strength of one person telling me it was only 5/5 review she'd given a film so far.Basically, a woman decides to try and sort herself out with a form of music therapy. She can't stick the actual therapy sessions, and resorts to a DIY approach. The lead actress was wonderfully deadpan, and her hyper male counterpart the perfect contrast.The story is fun and quirky, the low-budget production actually complements the script very well, and the whole theater was constantly breaking into laughter.I came out of this one feeling cheered and optimistic, that there's hope for humanity as long as someone can come up with a movie like this.