Cake ***½ (2014, Jennifer Aniston, Adriana Barraza, Anna Kendrick, Sam Worthington) – Movie Review

Jennifer Aniston can’t really win. Whenever she plays comedy or romcom which she’s so good at, everyone says she’s just coasting, still doing her schlep as Rachel in Friends. And if she does a serious drama, people say it’s draggy watching her in a dour, sour role that gives her no chance to be funny.

Here she takes on a serious role as a middle-aged LA ex-lawyer called Claire, who is downing pills and alcohol to drown chronic muscle pain and the emotional pain of her very raw personal tragedy in which her young son has been killed. Claire has scars on her face and limbs, as well as on her mind and soul. She becomes morbidly fascinated by the suicide of Nina Collins (Anna Kendrick), a woman in her chronic pain support group, who has jumped off a road bridge but keeps popping up to talk to her.

Sustained solely by the support of her loyal Spanish maid Silvana (Adriana Barraza), the lonely, self-destructive Claire manages to stagger on somehow, infuriating and alienating others, and then forces her way into the life of Nina’s numbed grieving husband (Sam Worthington) and child, eventually bringing cake.

Somehow Claire can’t win either. She has everything she needs to be happy, but she can’t get over the pain. Or can she?

It is a mostly downbeat and depressing 100 minutes at the movies, but Cake is well worth a look for its sincerity and for Aniston’s fine, brave performance. It was Golden Globe nominated, but not Oscar nominated, and, as I said, Aniston can’t really win. Or can she? She’s the only one of the Friends cast to have a successful movie career, and she’s still a star at 46, way past the usual sell-by date. Cake is, if nothing else, better work for her than Horrible Bosses 2.

Cake may be only a movie, but the story and emotional truth of someone struggling with depression and despair feels real and convincing. Barraza and Worthington are especially classy in support. Cake has enough tasty ingredients to keep you thoroughly busy munching on its stuff throughout. I’ve no idea why it’s called Cake, though a cake appears at a couple of points, making some kind of point that eluded me. It’s still quite a catchy title though, and maybe that’s the point. Cake wants to gain your attention. Then it wants to keep it. And it does.

It’s a shame that Mamie Gummer, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Chris Messina and Lucy Punch are all pretty much wasted with far too little to do, but this is Aniston’s show, and no one’s going to rain on her parade.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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