Nurse Betty (2000) Review
Dir Neil LaBute
Written by John C Richards, James Famberg
Renee Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock, Greg Kinner, Aaron Eckhart,Tia Texada, Crispin Glover, Pruit Taylor Vince, Allison Janney, Kathleen Wilhoite, Elizabeth Mitchell, Harriet Sansom Harris, Matthew Cowles.
Betty Sizemore (Zellweger) leads an ordinary and fulfilling life. She is waitress at a local diner, she is married to a local car salesman Del (Eckhart), and she is obsessed with the most popular soap opera in America ‘A Reason to Love’ starring George McCord as the dashing Dr David Ravell, who she has a crush on.
However, her dream life is about to take a turn for the worse, when two hit men, Charlie and Wesley (Freeman and Rock), come to town, to sell Del. It seems Del has not only been cheating on Betty with his secretary, but has also been selling cocaine and the hitmen are here to collect it. When a miscommunication between the two ends with Del being brutally murdered — a hidden Betty witnesses it, and is so traumatised that she enters a fugue state and now believes that Dr Ravell is real, and travels cross country to find him. Now, the hit men are on her tail, as the drugs are in the car she is driving!
Charming comedy, which is quite violent at times, so be warned. Zellweger has shown time and time again that she is a fantastic actress;, her two Academy Awards are no fluke. Here, she plays such a wonderful role of not only the pre incident naïve Betty, but then when she is in her fugue state, her naivety is amped up, to an almost comical effect.
The supporting roles, played by Freeman, Rock and Kinnear are all equally sound. Kinnear is on point playing essentially two roles, the dashing and fictional Dr Ravell, and of course the actor George. If anything, I felt the writers underplayed the arrogance of George, as I found him more likeable on this rewatch, and the ‘typical’ arrogant celebrity was underplayed.
Freeman, and Rock give solid performances as well, one as the world worn and ready to retire after one last job, and the other eager to do what is needed to be done in the worst way. The subtle angle of Charlie actually falling for Betty is a bit perculiar, but I didn’t dislike this arc.
At 110m, it does feel like it is about 15m overlong, and some minor edits could have brought it down a touch.
There is a lovely score to complement the film from Rolfe Kent.
A high recommend to watch.
4.5/5
