Nurse Betty


3/4

Starring: Renee Zellwegger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock, Greg Kinnear, Allison Janney, Tia Texada

Rated R for Strong Violence, Pervasive Language and a Scene of Sexuality

“Nurse Betty” is a comedy from director Neil LaBute, and although he didn’t write the screenplay, that should give you some idea of what to expect.  LaBute is known for his examinations of human relationships, and that’s what he concentrates on here.  Although billed as a black comedy thriller, it’s really more of a romantic comedy, albeit a strange one.

Betty Sizemore (Zellwegger) is a small town waitress living a dead end existence.  She’s married, although she is oblivious to her spouse’s philandering habits.  She is obsessed with the soap opera “A Reason to Love,” specifically, the lead character, Dr. David Revell (Kinnear).  But when two hitmen, Charlie (Freeman) and Wesley (Rock) brutally murder her husband (LaBute mainstay Eckhart), she goes over the edge, believing that she is in love with Revell.  Now, she’s off to Los Angeles to find him, and the hitmen are chasing her.

“Nurse Betty” is funny in a subversive way.  To be fair, there are a few scenes that are played strictly for laughs (such as the scenes with Pruitt Taylor Vince and Crispin Glover, who are from her hometown), but for the most part it’s funny because LaBute follows the traditional romantic comedy genre while poking fun at it.  It follows the tried and true formula, but things don’t play out exactly the way we expect.

LaBute has assembled an eclectic cast made up of thespians who are smart enough to know exactly what the director is going for and are talented enough to pull it off.  Betty couldn’t have been played this well by anyone other than Zellwegger.  With her whispery voice and starry eyes, Zellwegger is the perfect actress to play the kooky waitress.  Morgan Freeman brings a world-weariness to Charlie, but he’s capable of both being creepy and...romantic?  Greg Kinnear is also very good as the soap star who is so Hollywood that when Betty comes up to him convinced that he’s David Revell (his real name is George), he thinks that she’s auditioning.  The only one who doesn’t fit is Chris Rock.  Rock can be hilarious, but his style of humor doesn’t really fit with the movie.

For a film about hitmen, PTSD, shallow TV stars and scalping, LaBute keeps this movie surprisingly light.  He wants us to like Betty (and Charlie), and we do.  The script isn’t as clear as it should be in some scenes, but it’s still a good movie.  It’s offbeat, but not in a way that’s immediately obvious.

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