Cake (2014)

Claire becomes fascinated by the suicide of a woman in her chronic pain support group while grappling with her own, very raw personal tragedy.

Director:

Daniel Barnz

Writer:

Patrick Tobin (screenplay)

Stars:

Jennifer Aniston, Adriana Barraza, Anna Kendrick

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer Aniston	...	Claire Bennett
Adriana Barraza	...	Silvana
Anna Kendrick	...	Nina Collins
Sam Worthington	...	Roy Collins
Mamie Gummer	...	Bonnie
Felicity Huffman	...	Annette
William H. Macy	...	Leonard
Chris Messina	...	Jason Bennett
Lucy Punch	...	Nurse Gayle
Britt Robertson	...	Becky
Paula Cale	...	Carol
Ashley Crow	...	Stephanie
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo	...	Arturo
Camille Guaty	...	Tina
Allen Maldonado	...	Buddy

Storyline

The acerbic, hilarious Claire Bennett becomes fascinated by the suicide of a woman in her chronic pain support group. As she uncovers the details of Nina's suicide and develops a poignant relationship with Nina's husband, she also grapples with her own, very raw personal tragedy.

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Plot Keywords:

loss of wife | drug addiction | suicide | chronic pain | sex with a gardener | 

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Taglines:

Self-forgiveness is a painful path.

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, substance abuse and brief sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Website

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

23 January 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cake: Una razón para vivir

Filming Locations:

Eagle Rock, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$916,179, 2 January 2015, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,873,547, 8 February 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cinelou Films, Echo Films, We're Not Brothers Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman are real life husband and wife.

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Goofs

Claire's pain appears to be in her legs - it was said she had pins in her legs - and during the swimming sequence, they show a long scar that runs from above to below her knee. If it were this injury, she would not be able to squat down to slip into the pool and if it were as bad as indicated, she would have a harder time walking. Additionally, it wouldn't require her to lay down in the car during her travels.

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Quotes

[from trailer]
Claire Bennett: Get off my property
Leonard: I can switch places, I would, it wanted to tell you
Claire Bennett: GET OFF!
[she starts attacking him until Roy breaks up the fight]

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Jennifer Aniston/Bill Gates/Mario Batali (2015)

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Soundtracks

Halo
Written by Evan Bogart, Beyoncé (as Beyonce Knowles) and Ryan Tedder
Performed by Gary Lightbody
Courtesy of Polydor Records and The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Surprisingly good

The reviews were for this were... not good. Perhaps it was because of lowered expectations, but this was a perfectly fine, solid film. Not a great one, no, but a solid film that serves as a vehicle for some really good acting. Barraza injects a lot of humanity and compassion in her character, even if sadly, she's not given as much screen time as she deserves. And while it seemed like all of the hype for Jennifer Aniston was for the reason of who she was (and it probably was) she's strong here. There's no real ounce of superficiality or showing off, certainly not when the character isn't a very showy one to showcase. She would actually be deserving of an Oscar nomination.