Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Dan Franzen (dfranzen70) In Normal Life, Luke Perry and Ashley Judd play an odd couple who turn to a life of crime when things go bad. It sounds a little like the plot to Fun with Dick and Jane, only neither of these two clowns is as smart as Dick or Jane, either in that movie or in the kids' books.Perry is Chris Anderson, a by-the-book cop who meets wacky, wild, wacked biker babe Pam (Judd) in a bar. He's instantly smitten; she's obviously unstable. It's true love at first sight, at least from his standpoint. Eventually, Pam comes around, and they get married. But as I've already noted twice in this paragraph, she has some mental issues. Whether it's hiding from Chris' parents when they come to visit or threatening to kill herself with one of Chris' many firearms, Pam clearly needs some kind of help. Even rehab, provoked by habitual tardiness to the research lab (!) that employs her, isn't the cure.We know within five minutes of the movie's start that this won't end well for either Chris or Pam, as they're in the process of being caught by the FBI after a robbery. The rest of the story is told in flashback, so the focus is really on how the pair got to the point of robbing banks, and successfully.Neither of the leads stands out here. Perry is almost unrecognizable, sporting a standard-issue cop mustache, and his character is alternately clever and stupid. Chris sticks by his dotty wife even when it's clear her actions are having a severely detrimental effect on his work, family, and friends. Judd fares a little better, but not much. Judd is eye candy that can actually act, and she does an acceptable job with a complex character. Still and all, Pam is so far around the bend that it's hard to relate to her. Sure, being unpredictable is generally a good trait for a character to have, but if there's not even a passing nod to coherence, then it's all for naught. You may as well have Pam twirling a hula hoop with her neck while dressed as a pirate for all the sense her character seems to have.Not much to see here, just a flat, toneless story of two unlucky saps who, frankly, got what they had coming anyway.

raymond-15 An incompatible couple try to find a normal life. Differences of opinion constantly lead to outbursts of anger and threats of ending the partnership. Pam (Ashley Judd) is an irresponsible woman who makes up for the lack of excitement in her life by indulging in drugs and alcohol. She is certainly not content to be a housewife. Policeman Chris (Luke Perry) on the other hand is a level-headed husband who pampers her in every material way. He is soon in dreadful debt.The turbulent life-style of these two main characters occupy the screen most of the time and we feel there is no hope for either of them. Indeed their incompatibility is enough to put one totally off marriage. Their shouting matches are quite savage and somewhat depressing.When Chris resigns from the police force and discovers a new way to riches and living life to the full, excitement takes over and the characters are fired with a new enthusiasm. Pam insists she be a part of this new game and for a time she becomes a new woman.The characters are well drawn, the car chases quite exciting. This change of mood spices up their sex lives clearly depicted in a series of bedroom scenes.The final sequences are dramatic and exciting so stay with the film to the end. The old saying that "Crime does not pay" is clearly delivered and understood.

nayrasher One night while living in New Zealand I was flicking around all 3 channels that we got when I stopped on this movie...due to the stat-laden cast. Luke Perry and Ashley Judd. I was sold, well until I watched it. The movie would have been a total loss were it not for the lightspeed sex scenes. From start to finish they lasted around 30 seconds, as Perry humped away like a first-time teen. The frequency of these short encounters was also an added plus. I was able to put up with his mustache just in hopes of seeing more ridiculous sex scenes. I guess it was his years of bedroom romance on 90210 that tought him how to make love like a real man.

Sean Gallagher I don't know why, but I haven't been able to get into the films of director John McNaughton. Of the films of his I've seen(HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, MAD DOG AND GLORY, WILD THINGS, and this), I can see obvious talent, but for some reason he hasn't put it all together for me(HENRY, the best of those, was tighter, but had some problems). At least here, I can detail what went wrong for me. For one, there were too many shouting matches(someone ought to tell actors that yelling is not the only way to express anger). For another, I've never really liked Luke Perry, and he runs the gamut of expressions here from A to B. Ashley Judd is quite good here, giving an intuitive performance, and never quite answering what's wrong with her character, but letting us guess for ourselves(of course, she's a drug addict and alcoholic, but there seems to be more to it). And the details of this supposedly true story seem fascinating. I just wish it added up to more.