Cast
Betty Sizemore (Renee Zellweger)
Charlie (Morgan Freeman)
Wesley (Chris Rock)
George McCord (Greg Kinnear)
Del Sizemore (Aaron Eckhart)
Directed by Neil LaBute Written by John C. Richards and James
Flanberg
Rated R for strong violence, harsh language and a scene of
sexuality
Running Time: 110 minutes Distributed by USA Films
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Nurse
Betty is a unique comedy that hits on all cylinders, except
its plot. The popular TV soap opera "A Reason to Live" has
a very devoted viewer in Betty (Zellweger), a young waitress
who is married to a mean car-salesman, Del (Eckhart). At home
one night viewing a taped copy of that day's episode, Betty
watches obsessively as her favorite character, Dr. David Ravell
(Kinnear) stares up at the stars and says, "I know there's
someone special out there for me." Betty feels that the character
is speaking directly to her. That is until Del comes home
with two hit men (Freeman and Rock) to negotiate an unlawful
deal. As she watches her taped episode, Betty becomes a witness
of her husband's brutal murder by the two hit men. Betty,
traumatized by this savage event, develops a psychological
stage that allows her to keep going in an alternate reality.
She then decides to go on the road to return to the love of
her life, Dr. David Ravell from the soap opera "A Reason to
Live."
Nurse
Betty is a well developed and made film. However, I just didn't
like its sensual plot or plots. In a way it becomes an absurd
element of comedy like in last year's Being John Malkovich,
but I just felt that the plot was weary.
There
is absolutely nothing wrong with the two writers', John C.
Richards and James Flanberg, script. I just didn't like the
storyline. The characters are brilliant in this film and the
parallelism between the kind hit man Charlie and Betty works
to perfection. In my opinion, the character connections and
traits are what stand out in the film. I didn't believe that
the film was a laugh-a-minute comedy, but I did find some
humor, thrills, heart and darkness in it. Also, the dialogue
is so sophisticated and strong that one line can tell everything
about a character. An example is one of the best lines of
the film said by the likeable Charlie, "I'm a garbage man
for the human condition." The overall script is very straightforward
and has variety without any loopholes.
Neil
Labute very patiently directed Nurse Betty. Labute is a type
of director that I believe likes to test his audience and
push the envelope. An example of this is his 1998 film Your
Friends and Neighbors, which I hated. I just thought it was
an overboard film that contain too much disturbance and sin.
With Nurse Betty he tones it down, even though the film has
some moments when you will cringe in your seat. The film is
a dark comedy, a chase movie, a character-driven movie, a
psychological movie and a humorous absurd movie. All of these
movie genres tie in to the script and Labute's vision to deliver
a very different film.
The
acting cast of this film is nothing short of outstanding.
Morgan Freeman is just a great actor and he delivers an Oscar-worthy
performance as the complex hit man Charlie. I don't believe
that too many actors could bring to the table what Freeman
does with his character. Renee Zellweger delivers her best
performance since Jerry Maguire as the traumatized Betty.
Zellweger's eyes and contributable facial expression are joyful
to watch as she intrigues herself into the life of Dr. David
Ravell. Chris Rock mostly just delivers one-liners, lots of
yelling and cursing as the apprentice of Charlie, Wesley.
However, he is funny but also evil in this film. I have always
and still do enjoy Chris Rock's work. Greg Kinnear yet again
plays another egotistic jerk, but he is a very good choice
for the role of George McCord. Lastly, Aaron Eckhart creates
a disgusting and hateful bastard for a husband in Nurse Betty.
Eckhart has proved to me that he is a terrific character actor.
Watch out for this up-coming performer in the future.
Nurse
Betty is a film that intellectual filmgoers will flip over.
However, limited filmgoers might not catch its fantasy type
of style. It took me a couple of days to figure out all of
the character connections. The film has a lot of good things
and Oscar-worthy performances by Freeman and Zellweger, but
I didn’t like the storyline.
Report
Card Grade: C+
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