Director: Neil LaBute
Writers: John C. Richards (story/screenplay), James Flamberg (screenplay)
Running time: 110 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18
Genre: Comedy/Crime/Drama/Romance
UK Release date: 1st September 2000
Watched on Sky+ Saturday 31st August 2013.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.
I can’t say I knew an awful lot about this movie before viewing. I had seen the title pop up quite a lot since it’s’ release but had never had the chance to see it until now. I found it interesting but not all that engaging; some good performances but it didn’t quite hit the mark. Here’s a very brief summary before I expand on that.
When waitress and soap opera fan, Betty Sizemore (Renée Zellweger) witnesses her husband, Del (Aaron Eckhart) being murdered, she goes into shock. This has the effect of making her believe she has left Del and is headed to LA to meet up with her ex-fiancé, Dr. David Ravell (Greg Kinnear) from the hospital-based soap ‘A Reason to Love’. Of course the men who murdered Del, Charlie (Morgan Freeman) and Wesley (Chris Rock), are on her trail as soon as they know she had witnessed the crime. On arrival in LA she is befriended and taken in by Rosa Hernandez (Tia Texada), after she saves Rosa’s brother. They set off to find Dr. David Ravell, but how will Rosa react when she realises he’s totally fictitious.
Although I found it an interesting concept, I found it quite hard to engage with any of the characters. Having said that, I did find I had a bit of a soft spot for Betty. It’s pretty well made, although I did feel I was watching a soap half the time. There were far too many coincidental events going on that allowed the plot to progress. The performances were all pretty good with Renée Zellweger easily standing out. Morgan Freeman was, well, Morgan Freeman; he just seems to play every part the same these days. Chris Rock was a bit of a surprise for me, playing the hot headed Wesley with great aplomb and a great degree of swearing. Over all though, I found it a little disappointing despite the decent performances, it never really got going.
SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED (Just)
My score: 5.9/10.
IMDb Score: 6.2/10 (based on 25,424 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0171580/
MetaScore: 69/100: (Based on 34 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 84/100: (based on 130 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 38/100: (based on 34,847 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nurse_betty/
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