Nurse Betty (2000)

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

Director:

Neil LaBute

Writers:

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

Stars:

Renée Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock

Won 1 Golden Globe. Another 4 wins & 14 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

A Kansas City waitress with dreams of becoming a nurse becomes delusional after seeing her no-good car salesman husband murdered. Becoming delusional from shock, she becomes convinced that she is the former fiancée of her soap opera idol. What she also believes is that the soap opera is real and goes to LA to find the hospital where he works as a cardiologist. Meanwhile, her husband's murderers are searching for the drugs stolen by her husband and, as luck would have it, they are stored in the trunk of the car she drove off in. Freeman, an aging hit man planning his retirement after this job, also becomes delusional about the woman he is tracking.

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Plot Keywords:

police officer | surgical theater | television camera | television commercial | television producer | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

8 September 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Betty

Filming Locations:

Stahl House, Case House 22 - 1635 Woods Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$24,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,145,950, 10 September 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$25,167,270, 17 December 2000

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,133,268, 7 December 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gramercy Pictures (I),Pacifica Film,Propaganda Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scalping scene had to be trimmed, in order to get an R-rating.

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Goofs

Between seeing the sign for the Grand Canyon and arriving there after dark, Charlie and Wesley are briefly shown driving in Arches National Park. This is a couple hundred miles northeast in Utah, and can be identified by the Three Gossips on the left side of the road, and the Courthouse Towers on the left.

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Quotes

Charlie: Where am I, Purgatory?
Wesley: Worse, Texas!

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Connections

Featured in Nostalgia Critic: The Wicker Man (2014)

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Soundtracks

Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Séra, Séra)
Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans
Performed by Pink Martini
Courtesy of Heinz Records

User Reviews

Decent Dark Humor, But No 'Fargo'

This is a strange film but that's somewhat normal when the category is "dark comedy," a la Fargo and numerous others of this genre. You wind up getting a rough film but one with a lot of laughs. This isn't Fargo, but it reminded a bit of it with the two hit men and a likable female lead. Unlike Frances McDormand's role as the cop in Fargo, here we have a ditsy but ultra-sweet girl played by Rene Zellweger. The hit men are played by Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock: an odd duo.

Freeman, in a role uncharacteristic of him, plays a profane hit man who is at the end of his career and mellowing. His is really a strange role, a real contradiction at times. Rock is his normal ultra-profane wise-cracking younger guy as Zellweger's character suffers some setbacks.

For a comedy, this movie had a shocking amount of f-words and assorted other profanity including a lot of Lord's name in vain material. A lot of it wasn't necessary, either. Some of the stuff in here is not all black humor; some of it's uncomfortable to watch.

However, if you can get past (or have a profanity filter) the language, this movie is entertaining because of its mixture of comedy, romance and suspense. There are nice colors in here, too. As I said: a strange film.