Review #4 | "Cake" (2014)

An appealing concept without appealing execution. To a certain extent, the choppy execution is exactly what this film needed to make it so provocative. "Cake" is layered with dynamic motivations and stakes for all of the characters which are only revealed as the film progresses and recovery begins to materialize.

The plot is not very hard to pick up on. Through some very obvious symbolism, the audience joins Claire (Jennifer Aniston) on her arduous rode to recovery more than a year after a car crash which severely injured her and killed her young son. Her recovery is stinted by debilitating chronic pain which she desperately tries to subdue with prescription painkillers. Eventually Claire's recovery becomes intertwined with the events of her friend Nina's suicide. Through visions of Nina and the company of the family she left behind, Claire ultimately makes a choice between confronting her grief and the painkillers which have dictated her existence since the accident.

Overall, the plot of "Cake" is very black-and-white in contrast to the given circumstances of the characters. The screenplay lags in tempo yet the audience is required to pay attention for the sake of the two possible outcomes of the movie: the life or death of Claire. Perhaps the best way to pick up the tempo would have been to see more of the bubbly Anna Kendrick in the role of Nina.

Common moviegoers can skip this film, but enthusiasts should rent it for the performances of the cast.

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"Cake" is rated "R"