As Good As It Gets

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

This show is about a family whose mother has multiple personality disorder. The casting and acting is stellar!! Toni Collette blew me away with her portrayal of multiple personality disorder, she deserves an award for her performance. This funny, serious, light-hearted, tear jerking show reminded me that family love can thrive despite mental illness. A healthy reminder that family love comes in all colors, shapes and sizes. This show touches on how mental illness affects all relationships. Marriage, siblings, friends, children and parent relationships are all touched on in this show. Just when you are shedding a tear, comedy ensues and you are ready for more.

My wife has DID (and PTSD, BPD, anxiety, ...) due to childhood abuse. There have been very few movies/shows about this disorder, and I found that I could really relate to this one. It does a very good job showing just what happens with someone who has DID, especially with the nearly immediate transition to alters and back. That was spot on. The dysfunction was also covered fairly well. Nothing is normal with mental illness. Normal day-to-day activities can turn upside down, and planning things can become impossible due to the unpredictability of it all. Even going to your job every day can be a challenge. Then there are days where everything seems perfectly normal.And that's an area they only lightly touched on. The suicide ideation/attempts, raging, depression, guilt, eating disorders, emergencies, money problems, lack of boundaries... these are much more severe and common than what they showed (but that probably wouldn't make for an as entertaining series.) And, at least in my wife's case, her alters aren't as well defined or as persistent. Some don't even have names, and frequently there is just dissociation without alters. None of them wear different clothes.The difficulty with getting proper treatment is also shown. But they didn't touch on the cost very much. Most insurances must "pre-approve" treatment for mental health issues, which is a joke. Break your leg, go to the hospital. Have a meltdown and need immediate counseling? Ask your insurance for permission first. And don't even think about paying for it out of your own pocket (unless you're independently wealthy, which you probably aren't since someone with DID isn't likely to be holding down a job).Overall, an entertaining but also educational look at DID. Someone did their homework.

It is addictive. The whole cast is performing at its best. Colette is just brilliant and I can only imagine how difficult must be to play such a complex and multi faced (literally) role.I do not see why anyone would feel offended. It is about a real disease which is not very well known and absolutely not very well diagnosed.Well done... I hope sometimes soon we will get series 4!!I have seen first series on Show tie and now I finished it on NetFlix. The whole family characters absorbed my attention and yes, I get to some tears sometimes. We need more show like this.It is not a show for youngters but with proper supervision it can be for everyone.

**spoilers, probably**It's a really interesting idea to see how a 40 something year old woman would act like a 15 year old, but it's another thing entirely to have a 40 year old with a 15 year old "alter" that pretends she's a 40 year old sleaze. I watched some of this (I really disliked it so I stopped watching it). Overrated, I think. The thing is, is that Ms. Cody has a unique style of writing that has incredible potential for surprises, quirkyness, and just an overall fun time. Unfortunately, somehow, it's not happening here. This is not funny, it's not interesting, and personally, I found it hard to watch. I liked Juno, but not as much as I liked Hard Candy. I don't know what's going on here, all I know is that this could be much, much better. It could have been totally awesome, but there's something missing. I know what it is, probably, but I'll just keep that to myself. Hollywood is a win-win. I don't see it as a zero sum. That being said, just take an objective viewpoint on this situation and tell me if maybe it can't be better. This series totally, totally, totally sucks. And what sucks even more is that it could have done so much better. It's an interesting concept for a series, done wholesomely. 1/10. It's worse than "so bad it's good". How is this getting almost an 8? I'm having trust issues.Like another reviewer said, it really is kind of making a farce out of the disease of DID, often caused by childhood sexual abuse trauma, which tends to result from family environments the polar opposite of what a good upbringing is. There have been several movies like Tom Hanks' "Big" which explore this kind of thing in a wholesome way. This is just not a wholesome environment, it's laissez-faire. Yeah, just whatever. Life is funny because I'm wooden or something. Again, I'm keeping the rest to myself. I would LOVE to see a movie from Ms. Cody that's like Juno, quirky, surprising, but one in which the characters make sense, and don't need to be manipulated so much. Perhaps I'll just have to write it myself. It's a great idea. And a win-win to boot. No way this deserves a 7.7 (at the time of my writing this). That's absurd.