Mrs NoCo said Jennifer Anniston was nominated for an Oscar for this movie (she didn't win) and neither of us had heard anything about it, so we Netflixed it on this hot July night.
When actresses reach a certain point in their career they all want to do a Serious Movie to prove they're a Serious Actress. Think Sophie's Choice, think The Color Purple, think Million Dollar Baby, think The Burning Bed. Well Cake was apparently developed by Anniston's production company to fulfill this role for her.
It's impossible to describe the movie without giving away the two sentence plot, so stop reading here if you don't want to hear it.
Anniston plays a woman with scars on her face (Very Brave!) and we slowly come to find out a dead son. She's been in some sort of accident (hit by a DUI apparently) and suffers great pain, physically and emotionally, coping by downing booze and illegal painkillers.
The movie is well acted by everybody in it, but whoa what a downer, what a vanity piece. It could have been a lot shorter, or included more plot. As a showcase for Anniston as a Serious Actress, we now know she can lay in bed and moan.
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