Father and child sit together smiling while looking at a smart phone.

Want more recommendations for your family?

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for entertainment inspiration

Parents' Guide to

As Good as It Gets

By Kelly Kessler, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Funny, but not a light comedy for youngsters.

Movie PG-13 1997 139 minutes
As Good as It Gets Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

See all
age 14+

Based on 6 parent reviews

jcmcdowell
jcmcdowell Adult
December 31, 2019
age 13+

Amazing and emotional!

This movie is amazing! I’m used to seeing Jack Nicholson in more villainous and violent roles like in “Batman” and “The Shining”, but this is different. He’s in a more casual and serious role in this movie, and it’s fun to see Jack in a different lens. It has some cringy moments, but it’s very emotional, and there are many positive messages and many life lessons to be learned from Jack’s behavior in this movie. Young kids will be okay to watch this movie, but it’s better if kids under 12 watch with a parent. Even though there’s many things about this movie that are positive, the behavior of Jack’s character is not to be imitated. This is a film everyone needs to see and there’s so much that can be learned from this movie.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
Spencer H.
Spencer H. Adult
July 9, 2019
age 14+

One of my favorites, but very profane violent, and has sexual content/ nudity albeit positive messages

This is one of my top ten favorite films but it definitely has some strong content to be aware of. There is quite a bit of swearing 3 f words and other uses of the s word, b word and so forth. One scene is very violent in which a main character is beaten nearly to death. The beating is very bloody and the scars on the character's face afterwards are pretty hard to endure. There is also a brief sex scene which gets interrupted and some nudity towards the end. You see Helen Hunt's butt in a bathtub and the side of her breasts. The movie was originally rated R but re-rated PG-13 on appeal. This is one of few cases where I felt the R rating actually was the right choice. Granted there are worse movies out there in terms of content but this is strong stuff for a PG-13 and the original R should have stayed in my opinion. Despite the strong content, this movie has excellent character development and some very positive messages. The messages are how the people in life sometimes we think we hate become the only people that truly are there for us, and how things in life genuinely do get better when those people are a part of our lives. Children and young teenagers will probably not understand much of the jokes here as they are adult oriented, nor some of the humor or situations about mental health as the main character has obsessive-compulsive disorder. That being said 14 and up should enjoy this and will have some laughs as well as appreciating the more serious, heartwarming messages this film has to offer. This could be a good family film, but it would need a lot of editing. If wanting to watch as a family I would suggest using a video content editing system like Clearplay to enjoy this film. Without editing though this is a film that only older teenagers and adults will enjoy. It is excellent, but has some gritty content not best suited for really young children.

This title has:

Great messages
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
See all 6 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In AS GOOD AS IT GETS, Jack Nicholson plays Melvin, a hostile, reclusive, obsessive-compulsive romance writer who lives his life eating with plastic flatware, avoiding stepping on cracks, and steering clear of dirt, human contact, or disorder. The film follows the intersecting lives of Melvin, his gay artist neighbor Simon (Greg Kinnear), and a local waitress, Carol (Helen Hunt), the mother of a chronically ill child. After a brutal attack on Simon, Melvin is forced to disrupt his orderly life to care for his neighbor's dog (and in the process Simon). Ultimately, the film examines the trio's initial disdain for each other and the ways in which their circumstances can assist them in achieving physical and mental well-being.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6 ):
Kids say (12 ):

Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson garnered Academy Awards, and Kinnear a nomination, for their true-to-life performances -- and all three were well-deserved. Often pitched as a romantic comedy, As Good as it Gets eschews the saccharine aftertaste of many such films. Instead, it provides sometimes-painful moments of self-discovery and the possibility for a pleasant (though less than "normal") tomorrow for its trio characters.

Parents might want to consider their child's level of maturity before allowing them to watch this movie.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about issues such as tolerance, mental illness, and personal strength. What is at the bottom of Melvin's homophobic remarks toward Simon? What helps him overcome these feelings? The film illustrates the struggles of a single mother attempting to care for her chronically ill child and live a life of her own. Parents may want to use this opportunity to discuss a topic seldom considered by adolescents: the lives of parents beyond the needs of their children.

Movie Details

Inclusion information powered by

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate