Cake is a heavy duty drama about a California woman named Claire (Aniston).  She is in chronic back and leg pain from an accident. She is also physically scarred on her face and body, and as we learn, her mind too.  She is horribly addicted to pain killers and goes to great lengths to get the drugs she wants, when she wants them. 

She is battling about every kind of terrible demon that one can.  She in short is a total mess, and not really any of it, at it's root, is her fault.  How she is dealing with them though does become her fault. She is insanely self-destructive and seems mired in self pity and self loathing. There are people that are in her life that want better for her, but they are unsuccessful. So, can she fined it in herself to make it on her own?   And what really happened in the first place?  That is Cake.

There was a loud shout when Aniston was not given a Oscar nomination.  But they are wrong. True, this is a nice performance, but that's it.  Yes, this is very, very different than anything she has ever done before and this is a gritty, dramatic performance.  But simply because it is very different, doesn't make it award worthy.  The Academy got this one right.  She is very good, but not one of five best performances of the year in her category.

As for Cake, this is a hard as nails movie that is not easy movie going.  But this movie will really speak to many who have someone in their life who is battling things larger than themselves. It dares to take you inside the mind of those who are addicted, broken, and suicidal. This is in limited release, and you may have to drive to find it. And this is clearly not for everyone. 

Cake.   Very tough stuff.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.