"Nurse Betty" is one nutty wild ride - a tour de force road comedy that has enough loose screws to drive anyone bonkers. Its trappings may recall the Coen Brothers mixed with a zany Tarantino streak, but it is so unpredictable and filled with so many surprises, both candid and subtle, that it becomes a sublime cinematic marvel. This is no typical road movie or typical movie for that matter.
Renee Zellweger is Betty, a Fair Oaks, Kansas waitress obsessed with a soap opera called "A Reason to Love." Betty is a sincere, understanding, affectionate woman, almost saintly in her attitudes and naivete. Unfortunately, she is married to a lousy, terribly obnoxious car salesman (Aaron Eckhart), who treats her like cold fish and has an affair with his secretary. He is a nightmarish configuration of Ralph Kramden and Eckhart's own soulless character in "In the Company of Men" - he is nervy enough to eat his wife's birthday cupcake and then orders her to clean up the kitchen table. Surely such human beings deserve imminent death, right?
Well, one night, Betty watches in horror as her husband is practically scalped to death by two hit men, Charlie and Wesley (Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock) who are looking for a stash of drugs hidden in one of the salesman's automobiles. The problem is that Betty is getting ready to go on a trip of her own, and is taking the very car that is being sought. This places Betty, unbeknownst to her, in a dangerous situation. She also has her own fantastic agenda - she is headed to Los Angeles, specifically the fictitious Loma Vista hospital, to find Dr. David Ravell, a fictitious character in the soap opera she loves, who is of course an actor named George McCord (played by Greg Kinnear). The fact that her husband had just been murdered doesn't even faze her - she is in her fugue state, a journey of freedom and independence.
The two hit men, wonderfully played by Freeman and Rock, have their own agenda - to kill the one witness to the crime, Betty. The problem is Charlie is after Betty for other reasons - he has become enamored by someone so sweetly innocent and harmless. He dreams of dancing with her by the Grand Canyon, and keeps a torn picture of her in his car. What he can't believe is that she went to L.A. to look for something that does not exist. One of the best scenes in the film is when Charlie asks for coffee at the cafe (prior to the vicious murder), and Betty stares at the TV monitor (which is playing her favorite soap opera) as she pours a cup for him without spilling a drop. Charlie is transfixed by her from the beginning. His partner, Wesley, is only a smart-ass, cocky tough guy who can't believe his older partner's lovestruck stance.
I refuse to divulge any of the other numerous surprises in the film except to say that just when you think you know where it is headed, "Nurse Betty" literally throws you off course. There is a viciously ugly murder in the film that is as messy and realistic in ways few other similar films could have handled. There are also moments of sheer beauty and ridicule followed by perfectly timed moments of comedic hilarity. Many of the comedic moments come from scenes between Betty and George the actor, who is convinced her own lovestruck agenda is an audition for a role in the show! Zellweger and Kinnear play these precious moments to the hilt, culminating in a well-written scene where he badgers her for not playing to the camera during a taped show.
The extraordinary cast play their roles with a nicely precarious balance between comedy and rage. Zellweger plays the most sympathetic, confused, emotionally unbalanced female character in a long time, at least since Hilary Swank's performance in last year's harrowing "Boys Don't Cry." One cannot forget to mention Morgan Freeman's delicately portrayed Charlie, an intense yet gentle man of principle - his controlled rage and his amiable tone are thrilling to watch. I also liked Chris Rock's volatile Wesley, who has a number of good one-liners; Aaron Eckhart's loathsome salesman; Kinnear's ego-centered George aka Dr. Ravell; and there is nifty support from Pruitt Taylor Vince as a Kansas sheriff and Crispin Glover as a former high-school friend of Betty's.
"Nurse Betty" is basically about finding your dreams and fulfilling them by overcoming all obstacles. Betty has her dream and nearly loses it, while the sagelike Charlie finds that his dream is looking for beauty and fulfillment, and finding it in Betty's soul. Director Neil LaBute ("In the Company of Men") and writers John C. Richards and James Flamberg throw all caution to the winds, culminating in a beautifully reflective moment of peace for our dear, misguided heroine Betty. She makes us feel that such dreams are within our grasp, as long as we are persistent enough to pursue them. Do yourself a favor: pursue the wild, wacky, infectious "Nurse Betty."
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E-mail me with any questions, comments or general complaints at jerry@movieluver.com or at Faust667@aol.com
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