Cake (C+ or 2.5/4 stars)
In 'Cake' (a low-budget indie directed by Daniel Barnz) Jennifer Aniston deglams herself by playing Claire, a woman suffering chronic pain from a tragic car crash. Claire is a very unhappy woman. Because of her back pain, because of constant headaches, because of her facial scarring, because of her sleeplessness, because the car accident killed her young son and has left her life in a shambles ... she is a highly temperamental person who wallows in misery (some people might even call her a roaring b*tch). Acerbic, Percocet-popping, wine-guzzling Claire has anesthesized herself from the world around her: an alienated husband (Chris Messina), her fed-up physical therapist (Mamie Gummer, one of Meryl Streep's daughters), and her fed-up support group (led by Felicity Huffman), which asks her not to come back due to some inappropriate comments she's made about the suicide of one of their members, Nina (Anna Kendrick).
Claire's only ally (and companion) at the moment is her loyal housekeeper Silvana (Adriana Barraza, so good in 2006's Babel), who begrudgingly drives her to Mexico to stock up on pain pills, & eye-rolls the fact she's engaging in pity sex with a married gardener. Drama enters the story when Claire starts seeing visions of Nina (Anna Kendrick) who, in hallucinations/daydreams, urges Claire to do what she did; commit suicide as a way to escape the physical & emotional pain. Instead, Claire actually seeks out Nina's grieving husband (Sam Worthington) & his motherless young boy. A strange relationship develops. More hallucinations fog Claire's brain. And melodrama ensues as she must decide whether to throw in the proverbial towel or change her outlook on life before it's too late.
'Cake' is an intermittently intriguing, yet mostly drab/joyless drama that is somewhat bolstered by the good performance from Aniston. That said, the admittedly good performance from her feels hollow & even gimmicky in the wake of a career in which she really hasn't given a crap about the movies she chooses OR the performances she gives. In an effort to be a true thespian, Jennifer Aniston gained weight, stopped exercising, held herself as she were in perpetual pain, stopped washing her hair, dressed in baggy clothing, & wore no make-up. She looks appropriately miserable in the film. And yes, she has a few legitimate crying scenes, as well. But Aniston's valiant efforts just can't overcome the less-than-stellar script & direction.
I was coasting along with 'Cake' for a while, but then the script - formulaically written by Patrick Tobin - started to throw in awkward scenes that had little to do with the narrative flow or tone of the rest of the film. Furthermore, there is a contrived scene involving William H. Macy near the end which was just so ... BAD ... that it completely took me out of the movie. And a sequence involving a runaway girl who Claire invites into her home felt equally tangential and, just, BAD. Another note on the script: why make the character of Claire be so crabby? She really is a bitter pill to swallow {pun intended}. And so, while I found 'Cake' to be mildly diverting thanks to Aniston's "hey look ma, I CAN act" performance, Adriana Barraza's warm portrayal as Claire's housekeeper, and the SoCal milieu ... the overall proceedings are brought down by a half-baked examination of the effects of chronic pain, as well as some bizarre character choices.
Claire's only ally (and companion) at the moment is her loyal housekeeper Silvana (Adriana Barraza, so good in 2006's Babel), who begrudgingly drives her to Mexico to stock up on pain pills, & eye-rolls the fact she's engaging in pity sex with a married gardener. Drama enters the story when Claire starts seeing visions of Nina (Anna Kendrick) who, in hallucinations/daydreams, urges Claire to do what she did; commit suicide as a way to escape the physical & emotional pain. Instead, Claire actually seeks out Nina's grieving husband (Sam Worthington) & his motherless young boy. A strange relationship develops. More hallucinations fog Claire's brain. And melodrama ensues as she must decide whether to throw in the proverbial towel or change her outlook on life before it's too late.
'Cake' is an intermittently intriguing, yet mostly drab/joyless drama that is somewhat bolstered by the good performance from Aniston. That said, the admittedly good performance from her feels hollow & even gimmicky in the wake of a career in which she really hasn't given a crap about the movies she chooses OR the performances she gives. In an effort to be a true thespian, Jennifer Aniston gained weight, stopped exercising, held herself as she were in perpetual pain, stopped washing her hair, dressed in baggy clothing, & wore no make-up. She looks appropriately miserable in the film. And yes, she has a few legitimate crying scenes, as well. But Aniston's valiant efforts just can't overcome the less-than-stellar script & direction.
I was coasting along with 'Cake' for a while, but then the script - formulaically written by Patrick Tobin - started to throw in awkward scenes that had little to do with the narrative flow or tone of the rest of the film. Furthermore, there is a contrived scene involving William H. Macy near the end which was just so ... BAD ... that it completely took me out of the movie. And a sequence involving a runaway girl who Claire invites into her home felt equally tangential and, just, BAD. Another note on the script: why make the character of Claire be so crabby? She really is a bitter pill to swallow {pun intended}. And so, while I found 'Cake' to be mildly diverting thanks to Aniston's "hey look ma, I CAN act" performance, Adriana Barraza's warm portrayal as Claire's housekeeper, and the SoCal milieu ... the overall proceedings are brought down by a half-baked examination of the effects of chronic pain, as well as some bizarre character choices.