*As Good as It Gets*: the first movie I've ever favorited without knowing why

Wow, am I on a romantic comedy streak. Just finished As Good as it Gets and it's the first movie I've seen in a long time where I genuinely cared about the characters involved and had to put down my guitar to finish the movie and it all leaves me scratching my head wondering why. Jack Nicholson is such a curmudgeon while Helen Hunt sparkles . . . those two should never have ended up together and yet I found myself rooting for Jack in an odd way.

You know, the beauty of this movie is how three characters, Simon, Melvin, and Carol, overcome their differences and "issues" and find love and friendship. I guess that's why I liked it. Who doesn't like chicken-soup like that? Who doesn't love to see the impossible happen? Just makes you feel kinda warm and fuzzy. Check out this line from the end from crusty ol' Jack himself (to Helen):

"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. And then 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. And 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."

Wow.

The thing I liked about this movie is that it was too quirky and unpredictable to be "sappy." I mean that last line might sound kind of sappy if you hear it out of context, but I think most people who have seen the film would agree with me that the people involved and the things that happen to them are just too lop-sided and out-of-the-blue to make this movie pretty and cute. Instead, this movie is about imperfect people with imperfect lives who find the "inner beauty" in each other. I really like that because that is real love, in my opinion. Great relationships, be they romantic ones or friendships, are all about digging beneath the surface of things and appreciating the divinity in another human being. I suppose the message of this movie is that two people, no matter how how dysfunctional they may be or how different from one another they may be . . . two people--no matter what--can bond when they they discover and value the divinity in each other.

And now I know why I liked that movie.

Who's the Hunkiest Romantic Comedy Hunk?

Now. Lest you think I'm a hopeless grinch, I do have a heart for a selected few romantic comedies and I'd like to pose favs for the male leads.

Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You get's a big thumbs up. As aforementioned, he looks like a good kisser. His australian accent adds a touch of class and his dimples are to die for. Now there's a man who could have melted the most lesbian of lesbian hearts. God bless you, Heath!

Hugh Grant in Two Weeks Notice also gets a thumbs up and perhaps two thumbs up since I enjoyed the plot of this movie more than that of 10 Things. If you're a girl and his baby-blue eyes, puppy dog expressions, devil-may-care charm, and British wit do not win you over . . . then I declare you are half a woman! Half a woman!

Now, I'll tell you who really takes the cake for hunkiness. Women of the world unite: I know you are all in this one with me. How many times have we enjoyed the following chick flick under the guise of relishing fine literature set to film? How many times have we "analysed" the lake scene when all we wanted to do was see the leading man topless? (Okay, the movie is too tasteful to make him go topless. But he does remove his cravat and waistcoat!) As I was saying, how many times? In all serious, for me it might total around 100.

And the award goes to: Colin Firth playing Mr. Darcy in the BBC's 1995 Pride and Prejudice miniseries. Best chick flick ever, hands town. This movie is simply every woman's dream. Even that of a cold-hearted chick-flick, romantic-comedy hater, like me.