Cake

Plot: Claire (Jennifer Aniston) is in pain, and is very bitter and bitchy. Her friend Nina (Anna Kendrick) from her pain management support group killed herself. Nina returns as a ghostly hallucination to taunt or maybe tough love Claire.

Claire can't care for herself, and Silvana (Adriana Barraza) is her housekeeper and helper. Claire is stuck in her recovery and Nina's visits shakes things up. Claire goes to visit Nina's house, and befriends Nina's husband Roy (Sam Worthington). She flirts with suicide, and with help from Silvana she slowly begins a recovery. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Cake is black comedy about recovering from disaster, and in watching it I felt some cathartic good feeling. I smiled about how unashamedly bitchy Claire was. She was wallowing in it, not recovering. I worried as she regressed, got piles of pills, and got stopped at the border.

Claire is saved by Nina's ghost and by the deep heartedness of her housekeeper Silvana. Adriana Barraza's performance is subtle and strong. Just as good as Jennifer Aniston's. I really liked her Spanish language rant. Funny to me even with my awful Spanish.

Jennifer Aniston started very bitchy, but Claire grows subtly, slowly, and painfully. I'd have nominated her for an Oscar.

While Cake is slow-moving and serious, I liked it. The characters are realistic, and the action made sense.

Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Adriana Barraza, Anna Kendrick, Sam Worthington

Directed by: Daniel Barnz

Cinematography: Mostly its talking heads, but I liked the visual of Nina on the bridge.

Rating: 2.5 stars: Slow-moving but worthwhile. A film festival movie.

More:  One of the attractions is seeing the famous Jennifer Aniston, all dressed down and unattractive. The fans of the movie think that is the coolest part. I am trying to look past that. 

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