Nurse Betty (2000)

Director:

Neil LaBute

Writers (WGA):

John C. Richards (story)
John C. Richards (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

8 September 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

She's chasing a dream... they're chasing her.

Plot:

Comedy about a widow's post-traumatic obsession with a soap star.

Plot Keywords:

Soap | Soap Opera | Drug | Nurse | Waitress

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Morgan Freeman	...	Charlie
Renée Zellweger	...	Betty Sizemore
Chris Rock	...	Wesley
Greg Kinnear	...	Dr. David Ravell
Aaron Eckhart	...	Del Sizemore
Tia Texada	...	Rosa Hernandez
Crispin Glover	...	Roy Ostery
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Ballard
Allison Janney	...	Lyla Branch
Kathleen Wilhoite	...	Sue Ann Rogers
Elizabeth Mitchell	...	Chloe Jensen
Susan Barnes	...	Darlene
Harriet Sansom Harris	...	Ellen
Sung Hi Lee	...	Jasmine
Laird Macintosh	...	Dr. Lonnie Walsh

Also Known As:

Nurse Betty - Gefährliche Träume (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, pervasive language and a scene of sexuality.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Philippines:PG-13 | Argentina:13 | Australia:MA (original rating) | Australia:M (TV rating) | Canada:14A | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Durango, Colorado, USA

Company:

Gramercy Pictures (I)

Trivia:

Production Designer Charles Breen used The Wizard of Oz (1939) as inspiration for the look of the film. If you look closely, you'll find hidden references that pay homage to the 1939 film.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: Reflection in car window after charity event.

Quotes:

Betty Sizemore: Gosh! I haven't been this happy since I was 12.
George McCord: Okay, I'll bite. What happened when you were 12?
Betty Sizemore: I took my mom to Kansas City for Mothers' Day and I used the allowance I was saving. We went to lunch at Skies, this restaurant at the top of a building, and you can see the whole world from up there. It was our last special thing 'cause she died that year. It was a great day.
George McCord: You just gave me goose bumps from that. You know that? That is just great improv!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Renée Zellweger/Eve (#26.17)" (2001)

Soundtrack:

Don't You Know

A near hit or a near miss?

Hard to categorize this movie, but many things come to mind. My boyfriend described it as Blue Velvet filmed by the Farrelly brothers and I think that is an excellent description. My problem with this film is that it sets up its premise so exquisitely in the beginning - Renee Zellweger trapped in a waitressing job that she can actually do in her sleep, who watches her favorite soap so zealously that she can pour coffee while staring at the screen.

As we follow her around in a day we begin to realize how desperately she is trying to keep going by losing herself in a false positivity sustained by soap opera platitudes, but that these are becoming increasingly more difficult to apply to her sad life and bad marriage. As she soldiers on through the day, more and more things unravel around her, so that by the time she witnesses the brutal murder of her husband, she is completely consumed by her imaginary world.

Up to this point, Zellweger balances the tension of her delusional positivity with a buried sadness that is so delicate, when it comes out every once in a while, it is heartbreaking to see. Then LaBute just abandons ship with her and launches into a road trip movie that loses all dramatic tension by creating extremely cartoonish interactions and characterizations that do not come into balance again until Bette meets up with her soap opera star at a charity event.

The scene where Bette introduces herself to the writer and some of the cast of the soap opera "A Reason to Love" is one of the best balancing acts of conflicting views of reality I have ever seen on screen. But once again LaBute abandons Bette to one-dimensionality so he can rush over to the Grand Canyon for yet another badly written scene where Morgan Freeman is trying to have a conscience and Chris Rock is just trying to get the job done.

The point at which I got anything out of their interaction with each other was the point at which Chris Rock decided to stop "acting" and just start doing his foul-mouthed comedy routine. Finally there seemed to be some spark and life to their relationship, and the road trip aspect started to pick up for me.

I feel like Mr. LaBute is very good at theatrical manipulation of audience expectation, but not so adept at filmic flow and continuity. I am glad he exists, and the film was very interesting and very watchable, but I think he still has a lot to learn about how to create and sustain a convincing oddball reality throughout the duration of a feature length film.

You can't have intermissions in a modern movie theatre, but I felt as if there were intermissions in this film, that plot lines would ebb and flow like tides until each character was plucked out of the group and given meaning. Perhaps this would have been best done as a play first, and then the ensemble cast rounded up to do the film. I was underwhelmed by the artistry but entertained by the quirky story, so I think I will just leave it up to other viewers to determine - is the film half-empty, or half-full?