Review: Cake (2015)

6 Responses to Review: Cake (2015)

1. KC says:

   January 22, 2015 at 11:57 am

   Funny, I didn’t notice you had written it when I read it, but now I recall that I was vaguely recognizing your style. It seemed familiar in a way I couldn’t pin down! It was a good review, very fair and honest.

   Reply
   • sheila says:

     January 22, 2015 at 11:59 am

     KC – what a nice compliment – thank you!!

     Yeah, it’s really pandering, manipulative. She’s good though. I’m a fan. :)

     Reply
2. sphinx says:

   January 23, 2015 at 12:08 am

   It’s a shame the movie isn’t great, but I really like your fair and detailed assessment of Aniston’s performance. Too much of the commentary around it that I’ve read gets hung up on the supposed “Oscar-baitiness” of the role without providing much insight into what she’s actually doing. Here, I get an idea of what differentiates this performance from her more popular comedic work (which I agree is underrated), and so I’m actually still interested in seeing it at some point!

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3. sheila says:

   January 23, 2015 at 6:44 am

   Sphinx – Thank you! I think the whole “Oscar-bait” conversation comes from people who are not actors, have never been actors, and don’t understand how acting works. I don’t know – it’s really weird. The role in Cake is a very good role – a challenge for Aniston – who wants to keep doing good work, and wants to keep working – obviously – and she doesn’t want to do the same thing over and over again – so it makes perfect sense that the project would appeal to her, totally separate from “Ooh, maybe I’ll get an Oscar.” Like, what? What a cynical way to look at acting. Aniston gets a lot of WEIRD press – I can’t quite figure it out. The whole “Well, she was really good in The Good Girl” thing – said almost grudgingly.

   Sure, she was fine in The Good Girl – but she was brilliant on Friends, I loved her in Office Space – she’s been a comedic leading lady for almost 20 years now. My God, PROPS to her for that. I think one of her best acting moments ever comes in Bruce Almighty – where she lies in bed, crying, and praying out loud to God. So good. it’s a strange phenomenon, not wanting to give “props” to comedy – I guess it’s been around forever, but it’s still strange.

   Anyway, I thought she gave a very good and VERY uningratiating performance in Cake – and not in a self-congratulatory way. But because that was what the character demanded.

   I like her a lot.

   :)

   Thanks for reading and commenting! I appreciate it!

   Reply
4. Nondisposable Johnny says:

   January 26, 2015 at 2:40 pm

   Such a nice feeling to know there’s at least one other person who understands how great she was in Friends. I write about Jennifer-Aniston-Derangement-Syndrome occasionally and I always refer to her as the Last Girl Next Door (meaning the last of the wisecracking girls next door that the similarly underrated Ginger Rogers basically invented…in every previous generation there was competition for the spot, often stiff, but these days, she’s alone and there is no replacement on the horizon).

   The Syndrome, incidentally, has many dimensions, but the one I find most interesting is the fact that so much of the invective comes from middle-aged white boys (and I do mean “boys”) who don’t want us to notice that, in the strong majority of her movies, there’s some version of the scene in Office Space where she says “Come back when you grow up.” Believe me, you can’t threaten an arrested adolescent any more menacingly than that! I know there are other haters, but those are that ones that drive the narrative on places like the sports and business pages, where you find out just how wide and deep the Syndrome is (they’re among the many who keep insisting she’s “box office poison” even though she’s an extremely reliable money-maker).

   Anyway, I’ll probably see the movie, but I think I’ll lower my expectations!

   Reply
   • sheila says:

     January 27, 2015 at 7:05 am

     NJ – I love your theory about her and the reaction to her. I think you might be onto something!!

     It’s so disheartening to see her comedic work brushed off- as though only when she “goes serious” should we really pay attention to her. Critics are responsible for this type of narrative, they really are. They don’t get it. They value the wrong things. (Or, many of them do. They’re so focused on Oscar season – because that’s how they keep in business – that every single movie that comes out around awards season is looped into that narrative. Granted, the studio also pushed Cake as an awards contender – but critics participate FULLY in that. It’s kind of gross, at least it is for me. What about the performance – outside Oscar possibility? Is she doing a good job? Is she working well? That’s really all that matters.) I’m glad to have been given the chance to spout off on what bullshit I think that is.

     She’s a good actress. I do not know why she gets weird press – unless it’s a holdover from the Angie/Brad thing – which honestly was years ago. Everyone involved seems to be over it.

     She’s an ambitious actress who wants to do good work that challenges her. So she does the job, and she usually does it well. End-stop. I admire her a lot.

     Cake isn’t good – the direction, oy!! – but she’s very good in it.

     Reply

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