Interesteg
What makes it different from others?
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin
The movie really just wants to entertain people.
cnycitylady
This movie is a roller coaster of a good time. The characters jump out at you in this unique awkward kind of way. Betty (Renee Zellweger) is sweet, abused and under-appreciated and she goes through what all undervalued people wish they could go through. She finds herself and the life she was meant to have through "tragedy and loss." The tragedy of witnessing a horrendous crime and the loss of her sense of serenity and calm.Morgan Freeman's character sympathizes with her in this way and is inadvertently drawn to Betty for it. The characters are made of the same lost and misused souls. The story line at first seems silly and just not thought out, but when the characters start to develop on their journeys you see the innocence and the loneliness that their lives are made up of. The two find themselves projecting the life they want into reality and when they are snapped out of it you feel a combination of relief and grief, and you hope that they are able to cope with the reality they are left with.That said, this movie is definitely not for everyone, but for those who appreciate and enjoy a comedy with deeper and more realistically sad under-tones this movie is worth a viewing. 7.2/10
I_John_Barrymore_I
Minor spoilers follow, but nothing you won't have learned from reading the back of the DVD.Held together by a wonderful central performance from Renée Zellweger, Nurse Betty is a dark yet deceptively good-natured comedy.Suffering from an emotional and mental breakdown after witnessing her sleazy husband's murder, already-troubled and desperately unhappy waitress Betty becomes convinced a character on her favourite daytime soap is her long-lost fiancé and sets off from Kansas to Hollywood to find him.Instead of making jokes at the expense of Betty's mental state, writer John C. Richards is very sympathetic, with Zellweger portraying her as a lost innocent, not entirely helpless but tragically vulnerable nonetheless. Crucially she's never really a victim despite this and while she undoubtedly suffers horribly the motives of the characters who treat her poorly are all understandable - even Greg Kinnear as the object of her deluded affections may be an egotistical, blinkered, arrogant pig but he genuinely believes that she's merely a quirky wannabe actress with bags of talent rather than an insane stalker.The farcical ending where all the main protagonists descend on the same place (in this instance Betty's house) at the same time to have it out is as old as cinema itself but it works quite well here, even if the shift in tone is unfortunate.Zellweger is ably supported by Kinnear and Morgan Freeman both doing solid work, and it's especially pleasing to see Chris Rock show restraint in his earlier scenes.Not nearly as cruel as you might expect, and not at all mean-spirited, Nurse Betty - while far from being a laugh riot - is a solid entertainment elevated to something considerably more by the lead actress.
saintonge
Renee Zellweger is Betty, a Kansas waitress who wants to be a nurse, who is infatuated with a soap opera actor (Greg Kinnear), and who is married to Del, a cheating, stupid male chauvinist who's trying to sell some stolen drugs. Unfortunately for him, he gets brutally, bloodily murdered instead, while Betty secretly watches. It leaves her unhinged, believing that Kinnear is really the character he plays, Dr. David Ravell, and that she is his RN ex-fiancée. She heads for LA to find her lost love, not knowing the stolen drugs are in her trunk. Pursuing her are Charlie and Wesley (Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock respectively), the hit men who inadvertently killed Del before they found out where the drugs were hidden. They pursue her across the country, while Charlie gradually falls in love with his image of her.And in LA, things get totally bizarre, as no one realizes that Betty is delusional. Alternately funny and touching, this movie is almost perfect. Stop reading commentaries and go see it.
Amy Adler
Betty Sizemore (Renee Zellweger) is a waitress in a small city in Kansas. Her ogre husband, Del (Aaron Eckhart), a car dealer, keeps her under his thumb at all times, to the point of relentless verbal abuse. Her only escape is the beloved soap opera, A Reason to Love, which features her idol, the saintly and handsome Dr. David (Greg Kinnear). Betty can even pour refills of coffee without taking her eyes from the television screen! Because of her admiration for the show, Betty secretly longs to become a nurse. On the day that her loathsome husband forgets her birthday and her close friend has to cancel plans to take Betty "out on the town" to celebrate, the young waitress returns home to cook dinner, as usual, and then watch her stash of videos from the daytime drama. But, two bad guys show up, Charlie (Morgan Freeman) and his son, Wesley (Chris Rock). It seems Del has dabbled in drugs and double-crossed his connections and now it is time to pay the piper. Unfortunately, Betty witnesses Del's horrific murder (and it is horrific, indeed) and, as a result, she loses her grip on reality. All of a sudden, Betty believes that she IS a nurse and she must travel to California to find Dr. David, so that she can rekindle a love relationship with him. She takes off. But, since she is a material witness in her husband's death and she may have a sack of drugs hidden in her car, too, Charlie and Wesley begin a hot pursuit of our dear Betty. Will they succeed in bumping her off, also? This is a clever film with great performances but it is very violent from time to time. Yes, it was necessary to provide a reason for Betty's dive off the deep end, but for those viewers who detest violence, keep your finger on the fast-forward button of your remote. Zellweger gives a wonderful performance as the kind-hearted Betty while Eckhart loses himself in a smaller role that spells repugnance in capital letters. Freeman, who has played both God and the president, surprises the audience with his role as an aging killer. As for Rock, his turn as an evil, foul-mouthed assassin is revolting, as it should be, I suppose. The scenery is quite nice, as Betty goes through every state from Kansas to California. Costumes, also, are fine and the production looks great. Writer-director Neil LaBute displays a remarkable creativity and pacing as he tells his twisted tale, with the story going out on a high note. In short, if you are a fan of the stars, clever film-making, or offbeat movies, you will admire Nurse Betty. Just be certain you can handle the rough scenes, as they are powerfully stomach-turning.
