Movie Moments: The Final Kiss in 'As Good as it Gets' (1997)

The final scene in the film ‘As Good as it Gets’ (1997) is very significant for all filmgoers because of the final kiss between Melvin (Jack Nicholson) and Carol (Helen Hunt). James L. Brooks might not have reinvented the wheel with this film but his characters are fully alive and their actions and dialogue are oftentimes unique. After Melvin gives his compliment to Carol by calling her the greatest woman alive he attempts to seize the moment by saying, ‘I’m gonna grab you. I didn’t mean for that to be a question. I’m gonna grab you.’ He grabs her and kisses her in the tradition of the films and TV shows of the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s where the protagonists (male and female) would hold each other and simply put their lips together without any movement and no hint of passion. If there was passion it was only through the embrace because the face of male and female would be stationary. There is an earlier scene in the film which indicates that Melvin is a lover of the films and TV shows from the earlier decades of the twentieth century. When Carol comes to his apartment in Manhattan from Brooklyn in the pouring rain proclaiming that she will never sleep with him, after he hires a private doctor to look after her son so that she can go back to work to wait on him (she is a waitress), we see that before he opens the door to answer the doorbell he is watching Nick at Nite which features a lot of classic TV shows. We know therefore that Melvin must be enamored with this tradition when he imitates the stationary position the protagonists of the films and TV shows of yesteryear assume when they kiss at the end. After the first kiss he sees that Carol is a little disappointed and he says ‘I know I can do better than that.’ He grabs her and lifts her off the ground and this time you can sense the passion in his embrace. Carol responds, ‘Better, definitely better.’ After the first stationary kiss you would expect to hear the orchestra in the background to signal the end as they would do in the films of yesteryear (take a look at the end of the classic ‘Singin’ in the rain’ (1952) for example) however there is just silence and so there is a definite break with the films of yesteryear in Melvin’s mind when he delivers the final kiss which is infused with real passion. After the kiss infused with passion takes place the protagonists are given some breathing space to walk and when they do they are surprised by the lights of the bakery open at 4am and so go in and enjoy warm rolls. In the classic films once the embrace had taken place normally that would signal the end.  (Melvin initially convinced Carol to have a walk out with him at 4 o’ clock in the morning by saying that they wouldn’t seem screwy because there is a good chance that some bakery would be open at that time. They wouldn’t be screwy they would just be two people looking for warm rolls).  LOL

This is a very clever moment in film and you read about it first from Karl Watts’ blog. If you ever get a chance to watch the film for the first time or watch it again having watched it already see if you can pick out this clever moment.  ‘As good as it Gets’ (1997) won two academy awards for Best Actor (Jack Nicholson) and Best Actress (Helen Hunt). No surprise.