"As Good as it Gets"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Jack Nicholson's character, Melvin Udall, in the film, "As Good As It Gets", meets the criteria outlined in the DSM-IV for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCD). It discusses how the character of Melvin demonstrates the high needs for order, perfection, and control seen in patients with OCD. It looks at how much of his time is dominated by getting prepared and organized and how his over-attention to what seem to most people to be minor details prevents Melvin from necessarily seeing things from a larger perspective.

From the Paper:

"Melvin's extreme need for order, perfection and obsessive control is evident through his varied compulsive behaviors. When Melvin enters his apartment, he closes the door and proceeds to turn each lock on his door five times. This is obviously an irrational behavior, but Melvin feels it is necessary to heed to this routine each and every time his door is opened and then closed. Also, while walking down the street as well as within buildings, Melvin avoids stepping on cracks in the sidewalk or between tiles at all costs. Melvin eats at the same restaurant, at the same table, with the same waitress every day. He also orders the exact same meal, and becomes very irate if anything in this context does not go according to his routine."

More papers on "As Good as it Gets":

• Term Paper # 92674 : "'As Good as It Gets'"
• Film Review # 47180 : "As Good As It Gets"
• Essay # 26698 : "As Good as it Gets"

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