As Good as It Gets As Good as It Gets As Good as It Gets is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by James L. Brooks. It stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic and obsessive-compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as a single mother with a chronically ill son, and Greg Kinnear as a gay artist. The screenplay was written by Mark Andrus and Brooks. The paintings were created for the film by New York artist Billy Sullivan. Nicholson and Hunt won the Academy Award for Best Actor and Best Actress, respectively, making "As Good As It Gets" the most recent film to win both of
Jack Torrance Jack Torrance John Daniel Edward "Jack" Torrance is the main protagonist of Stephen King's horror novel "The Shining" (1977). He was portrayed by Jack Nicholson in the novel's 1980 movie adaptation (as antagonist) and by Steven Weber in the 1997 miniseries. The American Film Institute rated the character (as played by Nicholson) the 25th greatest film villain of all time. In 2008, Jack Torrance was selected by "Empire Magazine" as one of "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters". "Premiere Magazine" also ranked Torrance on their list of "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time". He is married to Wendy Torrance,