'Cake' Review: Jennifer Aniston Not Oscar Worthy Playing Emotionally-Scarred Woman and Suffers from Lingering Pain
Many people thought that Jennifer Aniston deserved a 2015 Oscar nomination for her performance in Cake. However, unfortunately when nomination time came, Aniston was again overlooked. The movie is good, and Aniston does a solid job, but not superb enough to get noticed by the Oscars.
Cake is about a woman who is dealing with the physical and emotional scars of her life. She does manage to garner moments of sympathy for women distressed with lingering pain. Claire Bennett (Aniston) looks exhausted when she is seen working in the support group for women. She has scars on her face and has a very stiff walk. Her problems are shown to be more of emotional than physical, as she is still recovering from a tragedy in her life.
The film opens with a scene of the support group session and the audience can see some dark fun in the acid-tinted tongue of Claire, as she lets out her free thoughts on the suicide by a former group member, Nina. Claire is shown to be a fearless character, but she is also a disagreeable person who has little to offer. She is searching for lifelines of her own, and it is evident through her friendship with her maid or having sex with her gardener. She also has a tentative friendship with Nina's widower.
Claire is shown daydreaming about Nina and the deceased Nina can come up anytime in her thoughts and from beyond the grave. In Cake, Jennifer Aniston is certainly scowling a lot and plays an unhappy person. She has cultivated that sour behavior due to those scars on her face and back aches. The movie is directed by Daniel Barnz, who is known for his shaky camerawork.
Aniston's performance in the film is not sufficient to make it rise above others. She missed the Oscar list because of the loosely written script and direction. For now, Cake is placed at second-tier.