Lawbolisted Powerful

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

TheMarco Like many others who have commented on this piece before, I was never a fan of Rachel, and that dislike naturally affected my perception and judgment of -- as well as expectations toward -- Aniston and her work. The portrayal of Claire caused some massive adjustments, which makes me really joyous. Aniston's character in Cake is interesting and convincing in so many ways, and it gives food for thought in so many aspects -- it makes you wonder what alternative path(s) as an actress she might have taken in the absence of Friends. But never mind all that. Here's hoping (and now also very much expecting -- yeah, revealing one's talent can be a real curse) that we'll get a lot more of THAT actress in the future.The development of Claire's character, and thus the film as such, progresses at a good pace. Don't be turned off by claims that the first half is too slow, it absolutely isn't. Portraying the many facets of pain that represent Claire's reality couldn't possibly be done more quickly, it would be entirely inappropriate. In fact, I assume the director had a lot more material in that section which he was forced to cut to appeal to a broader audience (which is a real shame).Similarly, don't be misled by claims that much of the first part of Cake is a '(self-)pity party'. Whoever spouts such nonsense simply lacks any experience of what chronic pain is like. In a sense, such people are to be admired and congratulated because they seem to have lived rather luckily. On the down-side, lack of personal experience comes with lack of true understanding and empathy, which is unfortunate. If anything, it's rather amazing that Claire manages to operate as well as she does. Many, perhaps most, others in her position wouldn't. That she is snarky and short in her interaction with others cannot possibly surprise, constant pain does that to a person.I also liked that the full spectrum of pains was not revealed immediately. We slowly learn that chronic bodily misery is not the only part of Claire's hell. Rather, psychological pains -- and here too, not just one kind -- represent key aspects of the character's daily experience of 'life'. Over the course of the film, more and more agony gets packed on, making you wonder how she's even able to manage anything other than a crawl. In this respect, I actually found the weakness of her suicidal tendencies (as portrayed) quite unconvincing. How could anyone not strongly wish to put an end to this kind of suffering?? (Religion certainly didn't seem to play a preventative role.)One key question that I wish the film would have had time to consider is how relatively lucky Claire is despite her personal hell. Imagine the same fate had affected not Claire -- who's obviously materially well-off -- but rather her housekeeper Silvana. If Claire's life is agony, what would the existence of an immigrant be like?All in all, much applauded and recommended.

SpringBeagle Spoiler alert..... the film fits into those categories that seem the trend these days where it starts on a down note and pretty much ends on a down note. The characters fail to change and you see very little growth. I personally don't find this type of story very conducive to great filmmaking because it lacks drama. Compounding matters, it appears Cake is a self-produced picture by Aniston the main star, which can sometimes lead to a a lack of objectivity. As a result, Aniston's dialogue is often wordy and the character repeats the same lines over and over or plays the same mood notes. I suppose this could have been avoided if she were not producing and writers had exercised more control or an editor could have simply cut out the fat. The film also has quite a few false endings where it simply feels as if it won't end but you've already gotten the point and the main character keeps repeating the same lines as if in a loop, again a symptom of a self-produced star driven picture. I will note that I admire Aniston and think she's a very strong actress but this picture spun out of control from the lack of it. I did not know much about this picture before I watched it but the filmmaking broadcasted it was self-produced by these symptoms.

InaneSwine The main thing Cake really has going for it would be the strength of Aniston's performance. She's already proved her solid comic timing in Friends and the stream of so-so romcoms that followed. Here, she uses comedy to heighten the drama and heartache of her caustic character. She makes it an uncomfortable watch, as you genuinely believe she's in pain throughout the film.Unfortunately, the screenplay lacks a coherent sense of direction; the scenes featuring Anna Kendrick's character constantly feel like a distraction, like moments that simply get in the way of the story, and and the film really wasted its opportunity as one of the few films covering the topic of chronic pain by bumbling into yet another film about grief. However, it does give Aniston some wicked one-liners, and a few scenes are very moving indeed.

leona_hilliard The actual information about what happened to Jennifer's character is shown very briefly. Eventually we can figure out what it was but we never know why that ended her marriage (oops clicked on Spoiler Alert but I don't think it really is).Perhaps the intent was to be thought-provoking - it certainly was provoking. Maybe there was a lot left on the cutting room floor. Jennifer did a good job with what she was given (I kept wondering why her hair always looked greasy - I know I know - not the point). Overall I felt there were more questions than answers up to and including the end. :(