Cake

 CAKE

Director : Daniel Barnz
Year : 2015
Genre : Drama
Rating : ***1/2

 

Much like 'Punch Drunk Love', 'Admission' and 'Requiem For A Dream', 'Cake' is a film which perfectly proves that we should give every actor and director a second chance - no matter how bad their career has been. Case in point, Jennifer Aniston. Anyone who has read my reviews for 'Horrible Bosses', 'We're The Millers' or 'Wanderlust' will know that I have less than nice words to say about Miss Anistons movie career which has been continually filled with Z-rated, mawkish romantic comedies from 'Just Go With It' to 'The Bounty Hunter'.

However 'Cake', the latest and rather strangely titled movie by director Daniel Barnz allows Aniston to step aside from the 'girl next door' image she has painstakingly carved over the past 2 decades and play a character who has depth, power and heartbreaking melancholia. It is a role that transforms the beautiful blonde bombshell into a broken, traumatized and deeply troubled woman and in doing so, allows her to give the best performance she has ever given.

In 'Cake', Aniston plays Claire - a physically scarred and psychologically damaged woman who, after making very inappropriate congratulatory remarks about the recent suicide of one of the members of her support group (Anna Kendrick), she finds herself alone, irritable and deeply depressed. Hooked on the painkillers which help her deal with her daily pain and suffering, Claire's only consistent companion comes in the person of Sylvana (wonderfully played by the incomparable Adriana Barazza) - her loyal but bitter Mexican housekeeper who turns a blind eye to Claires lackadaisical sex life and even takes her on dangerous missions across the border to Tijuana as to allow Claire to top up on the pills that are quickly ruining her life.

 

However, after suffering visions of the recently deceased girl taunting her to kill herself just she did, Claire tries to get her life back on track. She begins to spend time with the girls grieving husband (Sam Worthington) and young son and in doing so, starts to form a strong friendship - a friendship that may enable the three of them to deal with their own personal tragedies. That is if Claire can keep control of the vices and demons that have haunted her ever since the day of a shattering accident.

From 'Cake's opening frame, Aniston allows us to see what a great untapped dramatic talent she has inside of her and shows us that she is willing to change her appearance to vent it. As you can see from the poster, her eyes are glazed, her hair is shaggy and unkept it is clear through the choice of explicit language that her characters personality has been severely warped purely due to her experiences - a characterization which one may not immediately recognise as a typical Aniston portrayal but one that certainly speaks volumes. For the films entire running time, I fully empathized with her characters physical and psychological struggles and while Claire may be overbearing, dour and extremely abrasive at times, it is a joy to see Aniston, an actress who I never thought was anything special deliver a performance which is very special indeed.

It's just a shame that a performance this good is in a movie like this because when all is said and done,  'Cake' is just OK. The writing isn't particularly strong, Barnz's direction is rather bland and the story, while emotional, is pretty unremarkable and predictable. It is simply Anistons riveting and engaging screen prescence that makes 'Cake' so watchable and I sincerely hope that she decides to take on more challenging roles like this in the future because, believe it or not, Jennifer Aniston is a very good actress.