Cake

There are some movies you wait to watch and after watching it you feel the wait wasn't worth it. Daniel Barnz's "Cake" was one such movie. The movie just drags on and on. Jennifer Aniston gives a commendable performance as Claire. The story is about Claire who is attending a support group trying to cope with her son's death. It takes you through the pain she is undergoing, the nightmares, the hallucinations and mind disorder that she is experiencing. Anna Kendrick does a good job in the small and neat role given to her. Sam Worthington lacked a punch. Not much expression in his face. Adriana Barraza has adapted to her role very well. She looks believable as the hired help. The movie looses focus along the run time and the pain gets too much for us. If you want to see dry drama and Aniston in one of the better roles (especially after Horrible bosses 2) you can sure watch it.

An excellent film with an intriguing plot, delivered with a refreshingly down-to-earth storytelling. The buzz about Jennifer Aniston is actually true -- it takes very little time for Aniston to disappear on the screen (and after 15 years of daily Rachel, that in itself is a big achievement). It is someone new we are introduced to in the film, and well... I followed Claire with a mix of annoyance, empathy and curiosity, totally absorbed. The central story is very good and the big answers are withheld from us in such way that you keep trying and paying attention not to miss anything, because in this film, there is much beauty in the detail. Much to Aniston's credit, it's her performance that grabs you, and the subtlety in how the story is revealed makes our understanding of what's happening to this broken body and soul both moving and endearing. There is humour as well, dark and quick, and it does not let you soak on it for too long. Just as life. There are some minor "deviations" in the story which don't really add much to the realism of everything else, and it somewhat pulls you back from the emotional depth you had been immersed until then - but those are brief moments. Small budget, great script, great direction and a solid, moving performance by Aniston (which led me to tears). The remaining cast deserves praise as well, and all comes together really nicel. But it should be said, Aniston has done a brilliant job on this one. She has talent. I would hope Hollywood-land is paying attention and allow us to enjoy more of her in more of these.

Comes across as a poorly acted Lifetime movie of the week. No character depth, acting is sub-par which slogs along following Claire (a dour version of Rachel) and her depressing self-pity party. There is no plot, just the quest for keeping herself numb via drugs and keeping her distance from any meaningful relationships. A dreary wallowing in depression film that could have been OK if they had kept it more about her relationship with her maid and not bothered with the outside relationship (which I won't mention so as not to spoil anything). Weird , but expected ending. Can't understand what the intention and moral to the story is here. I really don't think there is one except to try to push Aniston as a capable actress. Capable, but definitely not award material as is being promoted.

'Cake' starts very promising. The main character is dealing with chronic pain and drug (ab)use. After the suicide of a girl from her support group, she starts to think about ending it herself but somehow her will to live seems to be stronger. I think this is a sensitive topic for lots of people, and it's what fascinated me enough to watch the movie. Sadly, the story starts to drag after a while and loses depth very fast. Like many others here, I was curious about Jen's performance, because it's always nice to see another side of an actor, especially one who gets a lot of typecasting. I've always thought of her as a terrific comedy actress with an amazing sense of timing. I have to say, her performance didn't really touch me. She didn't do bad with what she got, but I missed some connection to her character. I disagree with other reviewers calling this the best performance of her career. What makes a movie great to me is the urge to watch it again, which I didn't experience with this one. I didn't feel any emotion even though the theme is supposed to be very touching.

I am not a Jennifer Anniston fan although I have enjoyed the odd thing she has done over the years but she truly is gifted in this portrayal. The movie hinges on this character so if it was not done with great integrity and clarity and humor --it would not work. Ms. Anniston actually looks like a person and not terribly attractive at that --not a movie star in any way. Which is crucial to entering into this story. The supporting characters particularly her "maid" who is absolutely wonderful and integral to the story are mostly well drawn. It is not a movie that to entertain in the light vein (needless to say) but it is well worth watching for this compelling story of a woman in many kinds of pain and how she begins to overcome that overwhelming pain.

source: Cake

Aniston did an excellent portrayal of a woman in big, chronic pain. Both emotional and physical, and when the meds were and weren't working. She should win awards for her acting. I hope others who see the film, think of the people in their lives that have chronic pain, and understand even just a bit of what they are going thru. The scenes where she can barely breathe because of the pain are bang on, or when in bed and can hardly move due to the pain. Even the sounds she makes "when in pain" are exactly right. The way she turns without moving her head and the way she stands up are perfect. The weariness of dealing with the pain is so real looking.

Jennifer Aniston is, for the most part, fantastic in Cake - unflattering, grouchy and depressed and delivers the film's formulaic story with passion. Her confrontations with William H. Macy and Anna Kendrick are the film's most powerful. However, at other times, the film's weak screenplay dominates her best efforts. Of the supporting cast, Anna Kendrick is a scene-stealer, perhaps her best work since her Oscar-nominated turn in Up in the Air. Adriana Barraza and Sam Worthington also give serviceable performances, but Worthington's choice of native Australian accent smells of laziness. The plot is formulaic and standard, but the first hour, though slow, is relatively good cinema. After a major confrontation with William H. Macy, however, the film loses all of its steam by indulging in montage of Aniston in pain (which we are well and truly sick of by now) and some bizarrely unnecessary subplots about a girl from Idaho. By the end of Cake's 1hr and 43 minutes, I was begging from relief from the tedious pain. Perhaps that was Cake's intention, but I really hope not.

Either there are a lot of liars out there or people that just like sucky movies. I usually don't write reviews for movies but for this one I had to. This movie was so terrible that I couldn't even finish the movie. I didn't even make it half way through before it almost put me to sleep. I had to turn it off. I won't be finishing it. This goes up on my list of suckiest movies of all time; joined by Murder by Numbers and a few others. I am just sitting here reading these reviews on the site blown away at how many people actually say they liked this movie. I did see one person on here so far that gave it a 1/10 similar to my review. Good for that person. I am pretty open minded when it comes to movies and don't prefer just one genre. But, I can't lie, I think this movie is one of the worst I've ever watched.

The story focuses on Claire, a girl suffering with a mental illness, dealing with a tragedy she suffered. Claire attends a help group, they discuss the suicide of young Nina, and Claire soon gets haunted by visions of Nina, and starts looking into why she jumped into a freeway, she becomes entangled in Nina's life in lots of ways. Seeing Lucy Punch made me smile, she's one crazy girl, only a small part but nice to see her getting into bigger titles. I'll be honest I chose this title completely at random, having no idea what it was about. I was no major friends fan so I can't compare what she was like then to how she is now, but in this she is fantastic, what a great actress, no wonder they say if you can do comedy you can do anything. It's a very deep, dark intelligent film, that dares to deal with some of the subjects people don't like to talk about. I really enjoyed it. Am a little reminded of Nurse Jackie. 8/10