AS GOOD AS IT GETS SCRIPT REPORT; AN ESSAY SAMPLE

 MELVIN is mean, rude and obnoxious but he has a soft underbelly that CAROL will expose and allow the outside world to see him as the caring person he wants to be, rather than the OCD jerk they know him to be.

Set in New York City, except for a brief trip near Baltimore, Maryland. The protagonist, MELVIN UDALL a bigoted, wealthy writer, an all-around ass hole who suffers from OCD. It is believable that  MELVIN is happy with his life if VERDELL (a Dog), would leave his life. MELVINS neighbours SIMON BISHOP an artist is gay and owes VERDELL. MELVIN verbally abuses most people he meets. On MELVINS  daily breakfast ritual at the same cafe, the same table, same waitress CAROL CONNELLY all at the same time of the morning with his plastic utensils, all is well. Then one morning, CAROL does not show up to serve him breakfast, so in a very OCD-logical manner, MELVIN tries to restore his daily morning ritual. 

MELVIN employs DR. BETTES assesses SPENCER, CAROL is overwhelmed and incredibly grateful, and will do what she can to pay for his services. However, MELVIN is paying him to get her back to work.

Meanwhile, SIMON is painting a portrait of the young man, the young man's gang sneaks into the apartment and brutally beat SIMON. SIMON is in the hospital severely injured. MELVIN dog sits VERDELL. MELVIN begins to soften. After SIMON comes home from the hospital, he insists on taking Verdell back. MELVIN heartbroken is cheered up when SIMON asks MELVIN to walk VERDELL daily. SIMON spent all his money on hospital bills, His exhibition flopped. He is very depressed. His last resort is to ask his estranged parents for money, but they never answer the phone and live near Baltimore. MELVIN, CAROL and SIMON, leave on the road trip to SIMONS parents.

MELVIN and CAROL go to a nice restaurant. The date goes wrong, and CAROL leaves MELVIN at the restaurant. Back to the hotel CAROL draws a bath in the big tub, gets undressed (out of sight), wraps herself in a large towel, and comes back in sight, with her back to SIMON. SIMON draws her (a lot) and is no longer depressed. He phones his parents and tells them he might lose his apartment, but he is sure he will be able to cope if they want to call they can.

Back in New York MELVIN got the landlord to move SIMONS possession into his spare bedroom. From this act of friendship, Simon talks Melvin into going after Carol. Carol's mother, makes Carol reconsider, and Melvin continues with Carol, even to the point of stepping on the cracks.

Fallen in love with this script because of the endearing nature of the messed-up characters. As the script evolved, it was ridiculous but brilliant with the portrayal of the soft underbelly of a man in love. The use of throwing the dog down the garbage shoot seems to be a cheap laugh for MELVINS character. It could be construed as animal cruelty and unnecessary, however, the later addition of CAROL ‘seeing’ MELVIN ‘as harmless as furniture’ lighten the mood left by MELVINS character. The overall bad behaviour of MELVIN is made to come to light, and a point pathetic. Nevertheless, at times it just came across as malevolent. The use of poorly placed jokes about mental health is horrific, yet, if this was just an oversight and not the intention, the POV story of (man's MELVINS mid-life crisis is delightfully entertaining. CAROL does come across as rude however it balances out MELVIN in a complementary way and shows off that MELVIN is a nice guy. The ending of a hopeful future between the characters was wonderful to end and left those ‘feel good’  feelings.