Movie Notes: Nurse Betty
= 3 stars
Starring Renee Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear
Directed by Neil LaBute
Synopsis
After the untimely death of her husband Dell, waitress Betty Sizemore (Rene Zellweger) treks to Los Angeles in search of Dr. David Ravell (Greg Kinnear), a character from her favorite soap opera.
The Good
- Betty hails from a twisted small-town with bloody undercurrents, working in a coffee shop — think Twin Peaks lite.
- Zellweger displays a needed amount of heart and vulnerability for a character with a tenuous grasp of reality. She regularly lapses into polite befuddlement, as people can’t figure out if her treatment of Dr. David as a real person is faked or sincere. Most assume she’s looking for the actor, and when eventually found, the man behind Dr. David takes things to another level. Also good are a philosophical Morgan Freeman and Allison Janey as a spiky television writer.
- Contains a decent amount of twists and turns, and eventually makes a statement on mass media’s manufacture of fantasy, and its effect on reality.
The Bad
- Side plot of two hit men tracking Betty feels derivative of Pulp Fiction, with gratuitous violence (scalping) and endless conversation to match.
- Lost interest around the last fifteen minutes, which unwisely goes for a happy ending.
Conclusion
An anti-romantic, black comedy wrapped around a neat performance by Zellweger. Despite a weak ending and some senseless violence — worth a rental.
IMDB: Nurse Betty
Wikipedia: Nurse Betty
Rotten Tomatoes: Nurse Betty 84%