Pay It Forward (2000)

Extremely unusual drama set in Las Vegas and based on a novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde. 

A pre-teenage boy called Trevor (Haley Joel Osment) is inspired by his new school teacher Mr. Simonet (Kevin Spacey) and his alcoholic mother Arlene (Helen Hunt) to start doing more good in the world. He creates a scheme based on passing on kind deeds, which ends up having a profound effect on others around him and beyond.

The film works because you can believe in the characters, who are given depth and complexity. In particular, Spacey and Hunt are credible as emotionally (and in Simonet’s case physically) scarred adults doing their best to hold things together. 

It’s different enough to be thought-provoking, unpredictable, touching and memorable. My only real criticism was that it seemed a little too easy for Arlene to stop drinking after she decided to do so. 

As Good as It Gets (1997)

Superb comedy about a bitter romantic novelist named Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson), who insults everyone he meets. He also lives with OCD, avoiding the cracks in the pavements and disposing of soap bars after a single use. When he’s forced to look after a neighbour’s dog, his compassionate side slowly begins to emerge. A lesser film would have made the most of that and gone no further than a simple man-with-pet comedy, but this complex character study evolves into something deeper and goes a lot further into exploring human behaviour. 

Helen Hunt is absolutely superb as the cafe waitress that Nicholson falls in love with but is unable to articulate his feelings towards. Her three-dimensional character seems entirely real. Less convincingly Greg Kinnear plays Melvin’s gay artist neighbour, who Melvin slowly begins to accept and like – despite all his prejudices. 

It’s an intelligent film with no easy answers. It works as a romantic comedy, but it’s the least formulaic example of that genre I can imagine. 

It leaves you with a lot to think about, not least whether the OCD community think it’s a fair portrayal of that condition.