Movie trivia help-"As Good as it gets"
- Thread starter Geekbabe
- Start date
"How do you write women so well?"
"I imagine a man. Then I take away all reason and accountability"
"I imagine a man. Then I take away all reason and accountability"
Short answer: Brussels Griffon
As definitive a source as I could fine. Verdell is credited as "Jill the dog" under trainer Roger Schumacher. If you liked the dog I thought you might like the story too so including what I found.
Edit: Club that deals with Brussels Griffons and has a rescue league for them, might be able to adopt one there.
A Dog's Story...
The catalyst for much of the film's dramatic developments is Simon's beloved pet, a dog named Verdell. "I toyed with calling the movie 'A Dog's Story,'" says Director James L. Brooks. "It sort of solves everything, to see it from the perspective of the dog.
Verdell is really the fourth lead in the picture." The script specifies Verdell's breed as a Brussels Griffon, a rare European breed that can perhaps best be described as resembling a 'Gizmo' from the film "Gremlins." Animal coordinator Gary Gero and trainers Roger Schumacher and Ray Beal searched throughout the States and in Europe to cast the role of Verdell - eventually finding six dogs they hoped could be trained to fulfill the demands of the script.
Schumacher explains, "We needed to find adult dogs, and that was hard to do. We had a couple come from England, and as we were getting the dogs, we had to feel out which ones might be capable of playing the lead." "No one had ever worked with the breed before," Brooks explains. "But because it was called for, our trainers began to work with the breed for the first time. They really took to it - it's an extraordinary breed of dog, very intelligent and very trainable."
"I started with Timer at the end of April 1996. Within two weeks of that we had the six dogs: Timer, Sprout, Debbie, Billy, Parfait and Jill. Jill, who came from Texas, was the last dog," Schumacher continues. "When she came in, she just stood out - she had a 'look.' I didn't want to show her to Jim right away, because I didn't know how she would do." Brooks enthuses, "Breed apart, Jill is the star. She's more beautiful, quicker and smarter than most of her breed."
Under Gero's supervision and with Brooks' input, Schumacher and Beal began a rigorous 15-week training program with the dog, working six days a week. "Jim wanted to make the dog a character, and we were going to have to make the dog seem like it had been trained for two years. We were really reaching for the top."
The results, jokes Greg Kinnear, were at the expense of the human actors. "None of us are going to survive this film without having been horribly upstaged by Jill. Jack, Helen and I have all talked about this."
"They'll bring Timer in for hours of having to do the same thing, and right when they're going to go in for the close-up, they'll pull Timer out and Jill will be brought in a big fluffy pillow," says Kinnear. "She is such a scene stealer. She's got these lashes and big eyes, and when she walks onto the set everybody just says, 'ooh.' Then they'll roll the camera for that important shot."
As definitive a source as I could fine. Verdell is credited as "Jill the dog" under trainer Roger Schumacher. If you liked the dog I thought you might like the story too so including what I found.
Edit: Club that deals with Brussels Griffons and has a rescue league for them, might be able to adopt one there.
A Dog's Story...
The catalyst for much of the film's dramatic developments is Simon's beloved pet, a dog named Verdell. "I toyed with calling the movie 'A Dog's Story,'" says Director James L. Brooks. "It sort of solves everything, to see it from the perspective of the dog.
Verdell is really the fourth lead in the picture." The script specifies Verdell's breed as a Brussels Griffon, a rare European breed that can perhaps best be described as resembling a 'Gizmo' from the film "Gremlins." Animal coordinator Gary Gero and trainers Roger Schumacher and Ray Beal searched throughout the States and in Europe to cast the role of Verdell - eventually finding six dogs they hoped could be trained to fulfill the demands of the script.
Schumacher explains, "We needed to find adult dogs, and that was hard to do. We had a couple come from England, and as we were getting the dogs, we had to feel out which ones might be capable of playing the lead." "No one had ever worked with the breed before," Brooks explains. "But because it was called for, our trainers began to work with the breed for the first time. They really took to it - it's an extraordinary breed of dog, very intelligent and very trainable."
"I started with Timer at the end of April 1996. Within two weeks of that we had the six dogs: Timer, Sprout, Debbie, Billy, Parfait and Jill. Jill, who came from Texas, was the last dog," Schumacher continues. "When she came in, she just stood out - she had a 'look.' I didn't want to show her to Jim right away, because I didn't know how she would do." Brooks enthuses, "Breed apart, Jill is the star. She's more beautiful, quicker and smarter than most of her breed."
Under Gero's supervision and with Brooks' input, Schumacher and Beal began a rigorous 15-week training program with the dog, working six days a week. "Jim wanted to make the dog a character, and we were going to have to make the dog seem like it had been trained for two years. We were really reaching for the top."
The results, jokes Greg Kinnear, were at the expense of the human actors. "None of us are going to survive this film without having been horribly upstaged by Jill. Jack, Helen and I have all talked about this."
"They'll bring Timer in for hours of having to do the same thing, and right when they're going to go in for the close-up, they'll pull Timer out and Jill will be brought in a big fluffy pillow," says Kinnear. "She is such a scene stealer. She's got these lashes and big eyes, and when she walks onto the set everybody just says, 'ooh.' Then they'll roll the camera for that important shot."
"You make me want to be a better man" my girlfriend was all ohhhhhh I was like ehhhhh, but I can do a kickass Jack Nicholson impersonation and later used the line on the phone 
Remember at the end when he kisses her and then says he can do better? That's how I am, I want to really pleasure a woman.
alkemyst
No Lifer
- Feb 13, 2001
- 83,967
- 19
- 81
Originally posted by: stormbv
Remember at the end when he kisses her and then says he can do better? That's how I am, I want to really pleasure a woman.
Now if you could only find one that would let you try
Verdell is credited as Jill, maybe you could talk to her agent about getting a face to face.Å
Thank you McCarthy for finding that info.Figures he'd be a rare breed,too bad I want one
ohhh there's a rescue site? so cool thank you
ohhh there's a rescue site? so cool thank you
Originally posted by: flxnimprtmscl
She is
oh stfu,it's a charming movie and Helen Hunt is a nice looking woman who can actually act.
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