Nurse Betty Review
By Joe Lozito
"Betty" Scoop
Neil LaBute - who brought us the ultra-dark amorality tales "In the Company of Men" and "Your Friends and Neighbors" - executes one of the most successful directing about-faces in recent memory with "Nurse Betty", a modern day fairytale of loss and acceptance.
Renee Zellweger eschews her trademark squint for a welcome wide-eyed take on Judy Garland territory. She plays the Betty of the title, a housewife so enthralled with a soap opera heartthrob that she treks from her native Kansas to Los Angeles to find him (the character, not the actor). We are constantly reminded at various times in the film that the premise is "ridiculous" and that Betty must "need therapy".
Surprisingly, however, the film works very well. This is easily Ms. Zellweger's finest work. Apparently, she performs much better when not playing second banana to powerful male A-listers, as in "Jerry Maguire" and "Me, Myself & Irene". In this case, Ms. Zellweger has a strong ensemble cast to support her. Greg Kinnear smarms his way through another role as the soap opera object of desire. LaBute regular Aaron Eckhart takes on the unenviable role of Betty's husband, the slovenly car salesman. But most notably, Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock make the finest pair of hitmen since "Pulp Fiction".
It is almost easy to forget that this is a Neil LaBute movie. For the first time, Mr. LaBute forsakes his own writing for that of two relative newcomers. TV writer John Richards and Music Editor James Flamberg provide Mr. LaBute with an impressively rich set of characters and a situation which manages to poke loving fun at Hollywood, obsession, and living in denial. For the most part the director keeps the tone light enough to support the fairytale plot turns, but it's not all peaches and cream. There are a couple of very violent scenes and plenty of foul language.
In the end, this duality is the problem with the film - it never commits to a tone. The movie needs to be a fairytale in order to work, but too often the Mr. LaBute's knowing cynicism shows through. This is not a failing, but it is what keeps "Nurse Betty" from reaching its full potential. If nothing else, however, it keeps us wondering what Mr. LaBute will turn up next.
