Mickelson/As Good As It Gets
by Monty Mickelson
montymickelson@yahoo.com
Approximately 870 words
The Antagonist-as-Protagonist Paradigm
Truly is As Good As It Gets
The “center and eccentrics” format is one of the conventions of television sitcoms. A
typical “C&E” construct features a reasonable, rational and (mostly) self-aware star surrounded by a
constellation of eccentric and dissolute nut-jobs. Jerry Seinfeld on “Seinfeld” was the center of his
retinue of eccentrics; ditto for Tiny Fey in “30 Rock”, Ray Romano on—you get the idea. Perhaps
because aspiring feature writers watch lots of sitcoms, they often embrace the center-and-eccentrics
paradigm. Feature films, however, have a different character calculus that allows for a morally
flawed, internally conflicted protagonist to function—on rare occasions—as his or her own chief
antagonist. The duality of that choice presents the writer with a host of delights and challenges.
Some prominent examples of this syndrome in recent films include Pat (played by Bradley
Cooper) in Silver Linings Playbook, Mavis (played by Charlize Theron) in Young Adult, and the iconic
weathercaster Phil Collins (Bil Murray) in Groundhog Day. In my opinion, no writing team has ever
met that particular challenge better than Mark Andrus and James L. Brooks did in their Oscarnominated screenplay As Good As It Gets.
Screenwriters have certainly depicted neuroses aplenty; they have made great sport of the
crippling phobias that plague the human condition (Howard Hughes and his germ aversion in The
Aviator, Jimmy Stewart’s acrophobia in Vertigo come to mind). But in their antagonist/protagonist
Melvin Udall, Andrus and Brooks have created not just a neurotic multiphobe, but also a gaybashing, card-carrying misanthrope. Oh—and lest I forget, Udall also has a narcissitic streak as wide
as the Hudson River. You could argue that, in piling on the character flaws, Andrus and Brooks
overshot the mark. In their conception of Udall, the writers have deprived their audience of that
ever-important “rooting interest”—that is, a sentimental hope that Udall and and the single
mother/waitress Carol (Helen Hunt) would wind up together. Rather, As Good As It Gets gives us
about 80 pages of adversity, antipathy, and—well, this:
ZOE
How do you write women so
well?
MELVIN
First, I think of a man. Then
I take away reason and
accountability.
Or perhaps this gay-bashing rant instigated when Melvin’s neighbor, Simon, interrupts his
writing session:
MELVIN
1
Mickelson/As Good As It Gets
Do you like to be interrupted when
you are nancing around in your
little garden?
SIMON
No…actually, I even shut the phone
off and put a little piece of
cardboard in the ringer so no one
can just buzz me from…
MELVIN
Well, I work all the time. So
never, never again interrupt me,
okay? I mean, never. not if
there’s a fire. No even if you
hear a thud from inside my home
and a week later there’s a smell
from in there that can only come
from a decaying body and you have
to hold a hanky against you face
because the stench is so thick you
think you’re going to faint even
then don’t come knocking or, if
it’s election night and you’re
excited and want to celebrate
because some fudge-packer you
dated has been elected the first
queer president of the United
States…and he’s going to put you
up in Camp David and you want to
share the moment with
someone…don’t knock…not on this
door. Not for anything. Got me,
sweetheart?
If you were to pitch such a character in a development meeting, the rational response, the
rebuttal would be that this character could portray the villain, or perhaps a glimmer of comic relief.
But promoting Melvin Udall to leading man status in a romantic comedy is madness. The audience
would never buy it.
And yet, they did. Of course, it helped enormously that Jack Nicholson signed on to play
Melvin Udall. But the success of As Good As It Gets (Seven Oscar nominations; three Golden
Globes) didn’t solely turn on Nicholson’s Academy Award-winning performance. Melvin is so very
clever, so acerbic in his wit that the audience finds itself in train wreck mode—we simply can’t look
away. What elevated this script and made it credible was a combination of some delightfully caustic
dialogue contrasted by the humanity and temperance of the supporting characters.
2
Mickelson/As Good As It Gets
The Carol Connelly character in As Good is the opposite side of this coin. As a struggling
single mother, oozing compassion, she becomes our rooting interest in the story. The more we
learn about her, the more we want all good things for Carol. It doesn’t occur to Carol until quite
late in the film that what she may actually need is this compulsive, reflexively inappropriate man.
The romantic denoument in As Good As It Gets is not inevitable. It’s not even likely. But in the
context of what we have learned about these characters it has a kind of goofy, gratifying logic.
What we have in this rich and resonant story is basically the center and eccentrics format
tipped on its ear. Melvin is the damaged goods, the central source of conflict and dismay. Carol,
along with supporting characters like Simon and gallery owner Frank Sachs (played by Cuba
Gooding, Jr.) represent the simple virtues that have eluded Melvin. Collectively, they help Melvin
reach one of the most improbable ephiphanies in the history of film.
####
3