<P> 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 the lead acting awards, and the first since 1991's The Silence of the Lambs . It is ranked 140th on Empire magazine's "The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time" list . </P> <P> Melvin Udall is a misanthrope who works at home as a best - selling novelist in New York City . He suffers from obsessive--compulsive disorder which, paired with his misanthropy, alienates nearly everyone with whom he interacts . He avoids stepping on sidewalk cracks while walking through the city due to a superstition of bad luck, and eats breakfast at the same table in the same restaurant every day using disposable plastic utensils he brings with him due to his pathological fear of germs . He takes an interest in his waitress, Carol Connelly, the only server at the restaurant who can tolerate his behavior . </P> <P> One day, Melvin's apartment neighbor, a gay artist named Simon Bishop, is assaulted and nearly killed during a robbery . Melvin is intimidated by Simon's agent, Frank Sachs, into caring for Simon's dog, Verdell, while Simon is hospitalized . Although he initially does not enjoy caring for the dog, Melvin becomes emotionally attached to it . He simultaneously receives more attention from Carol . When Simon is released from the hospital, Melvin is unable to cope emotionally with returning the dog . Melvin's life is further altered when Carol decides to work closer to her home in Brooklyn so she can care for her acutely asthmatic son Spencer ("Spence"). Unable to adjust to another waitress, Melvin arranges through his publisher, whose husband is a doctor, to pay for her son's considerable medical expenses as long as Carol agrees to return to work . She is overwhelmed at his generosity, and they agree there will be no physical relationship . </P> <P> Meanwhile, Simon's assault and rehabilitation, coupled with Verdell's preference for Melvin, causes Simon to lose his creative muse . Simon is approaching bankruptcy due to his medical bills . Frank convinces him to go to Baltimore to ask his estranged parents for money . Because Frank is too busy to take the injured Simon to Baltimore himself, Melvin reluctantly agrees to do so--Frank lends Melvin the use of his Saab 900 convertible for the trip . Melvin invites Carol to accompany them on the trip to lessen the awkwardness . She reluctantly accepts the invitation, and relationships among the three develop . </P>

Name of dog in as good as it gets