Review of Cake (2014) by Holly L — 05 Jun 2015

When a movie touches me the way that this one did, it gets five stars. Cake is by no means a perfect movie, although I did think that Jennifer Aniston did a good job playing a deeply troubled woman without breaking into her typical rom com character. The reason why I like the movie so much is because it delivered what I feel is one realistic view into what it's like to survive a horrible tragedy. When we meet Claire, we meet a woman who is in such immense physical and mental pain that her only emotions are anger and sadness. This is not a young woman with so much to live for. This is a middle aged woman who lost her child, her beauty and her happiness in one horrible event. Throughout the movie, things go from bad to worse, and she hits a number of rock bottom moments.

The movie never gives the audience the gratification of a happy ending with all loose ends tied neatly in a bow. Claire does not walk off into the sunset with a replacement for her child, her husband or her previously happy life. But we see a glimmer of hope. We see a tiny bit of life come back into a person who is the equivalent of the walking dead. The moment that touched me the most is when Claire finally musters the courage to adjust her car seat to an upright position and face the windshield. At that moment, the audience finally understands the deep fear and pain that this woman has been carrying with her and trying so hard to medicate away.

Sometimes when really bad things happen, it destroys a person. It's just what happens. Cake does an excellent job of portraying that, and depicting what it might be like to heal just enough to live again.