AS GOOD AS IT GETS [1997]

Brace Yourself For Melvin

Have you ever let a romantic moment make you do something that you knew was stupid? 

[Carol Connelly]

Come on in, and try not to ruin everything by being you. 

[Carol Connelly]

To hell with sex! It was better than sex! 

We held each other! What I needed, he gave me great.

[Carol Connelly]

A compliment is something nice about somebody else.

[Carol Connelly]

[Carol Connelly]: OK, we all have these terrible stories to get over, and you-... 

[Melvin Udall]: It's not true. 

Some of us have great stories, pretty stories that take place at lakes with boats and friends and noodle salad. 

Just no one in this car. 
But, a lot of people, that's their story. Good times, noodle salad. 

What makes it so hard is not that you had it bad, 
but that you're that pissed that so many others had it good.

[Carol Connelly]: Why can't I have a normal boyfriend? 

Just a regular boyfriend, one that doesn't go nuts on me! 

[Beverly Connelly]: Everybody wants that, dear. It doesn't exist.

 What if this is as good as it gets? 

[Melvin Udall]

I might be the only person on the face of the earth that knows you're the greatest woman on earth. 

I might be the only one who appreciates how amazing you are in every single thing that you do, and how you are with Spencer, "Spence," and in every single thought that you have, and how you say what you mean, and how you almost always mean something that's all about being straight and good. 

I think most people miss that about you, and I watch them, wondering how they can watch you bring their food, and clear their tables and never get that they just met the greatest woman alive. 

And the fact that I get it makes me feel good, about me. 

[Melvin Udall]

[Melvin Udall]: Judging from your eyes, I'd say you were fifty.

[Carol Connelly]: Judging from your eyes, I'd say you were kind, so so much for eyes.

[Melvin Udall]: I've got a really great compliment for you, and it's true.

[Carol Connelly]: I'm so afraid you're about to say something awful.

[Melvin Udall]: Don't be pessimistic, it's not your style. 

Okay, here I go: Clearly, a mistake. I've got this, what - ailment? 

My doctor, a shrink that I used to go to all the time, he says that in fifty or sixty percent of the cases, a pill really helps. I *hate* pills, very dangerous thing, pills. Hate. 

I'm using the word "hate" here, about pills. Hate. 

My compliment is, that night when you came over and told me that you would never... all right, well, you were there, you know what you said. 

Well, my compliment to you is, the next morning, I started taking the pills.

[Carol Connelly]: I don't quite get how that's a compliment for me.

[Melvin Udall]: You make me want to be a better man.

[Carol Connelly]: ...That's maybe the best compliment of my life. 

[Melvin Udall]: Well, maybe I overshot a little, because I was aiming at just enough to keep you from walking out.

[Carol Connelly]: Is it a secret what you're doing here? 

[Melvin Udall]: I had to see you.

[Carol Connelly]: Because? 

[Melvin Udall]: It relaxes me. 

I'd feel better sitting ouside your apartment on the curb than any other place I can think of or imagine.

[Melvin Udall]: I'm dying here. 

[Simon Bishop]: Because you love her.

[Melvin Udall]: No! And you people are supposed to be sensitive and sharp?

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