Continuity mistake: When Melvin and Carol enter the restaurant on their trip, a certain song is playing (I can't recall the song). Melvin leaves to buy a jacket, returns, and just after they are seated, you hear the female band leader say, "Here's a special song for...", and it's the same song they played 10 minutes ago. (01:34:00 - 01:38:15)
As Good As It Gets (1997)
Ending / spoiler
Directed by: James L. Brooks
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Cuba Gooding Jr., Greg Kinnear, Helen Hunt, Skeet Ulrich
Jack Nicholson finally kisses Helen Hunt, and realizes he forgot to do one of his obsessive-compulsive ticks. He is finally on the right track.
Arnprior
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.
Trivia: Betty White was originally cast to play Helen Hunt's mother, Beverly Connelly, but she objected and withdrew from the role because the beginning of the movie has Melvin Udall dumping Verdell down the garbage shoot. Betty White is a huge animal rights activist.
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Answer: It has everything to do with his mental illness. His OCD condition has kept him isolated with anti-social tendencies. He just finds it difficult to directly interact with people.
raywest ★