Cake 2014

     Claire Simmons lives alone in a very nice home in Los Angeles and she has daily help from her housekeeper Silvana.  She attends pool therapy and a chronic pain support group.  Nina, one of the women in the group commits suicide and Claire is fascinated by every detail of the event.  She also starts up a friendship with Nina’s husband and son.  Claire takes a lot of painkillers with alcohol and she is constantly seeing visions of Nina.  She is also cranky, rude, demanding, hard to get along with, bitter, lying and stealing. 

     This film features one of the best performances by Jennifer Aniston of her career.  She sets aside the perfect hair and completion for plain brown, limp, greasy and scars on her face and legs.  The one thing I don’t like about this film but it’s common to a lot of movies is the way details of what happened to Claire are very gradually revealed and not completely.  How are we supposed to have sympathy for Claire when we don’t know anything about what is causing all her problems?  3* (This movie is OK)

102 min, Drama directed by Daniel Barnz with Jennifer Aniston, Adriana Barraza, Anna Kendrick, Sam Worthington, Mamie Gummer, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Chris Messina, Lucy Punch, Britt Robertson.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10, 49% critic 49% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 2 ½*.

Special Note:  I wonder why Felicity Huffman has taken two roles recently which make her look more frumpy than almost could be possible?