When I was growing up and watching movies on TV with my parents, I was always amazed when they were able to name some of the lesser-known actors in the background or in cameos. I was impressed with and inspired by their vast cinema knowledge, to the point where I now do it with my wife, often to the amazement of our daughter.
This afternoon, she and I were watching “As Good As It Gets,” a movie I hadn’t seen since its initial run in 1997. Aside from the terrific lead performances by Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, and Greg Kinnear, it was interesting to see that the supporting cast included Cuba Gooding Jr., Yeardley Smith, Skeet Ullrich, Brian Doyle-Murray, Harold Ramis, and a very young Maya Rudolph as a cop with no lines. But I was also proud to spot Peter Jacobson and Lisa Edelstein — who years later would work together on “House” — as a couple that Nicholson insults into leaving their table in the restaurant where Hunt is a waitress…