Nurse Betty is one of the more unique movies that has ever existed, as it refuses to fit into any conventional genre or archetype. Part fantasy, black comedy, romance, the movie is about people who live in a fantasy world because the reality of life is too bleak and hard for them. In an early scene in the movie, Betty witnesses an intense traumatic experience in her small Kansas town, which causes her to go on the run to meet her fantasy man on her favorite television soap (Greg Kinnear) and the two hitmen follow her, one after the payload in her car and one after Betty herself. It sounds like a conventional movie plot, but it is suspended in disbelief just like the audience is suspending by watching a movie. Betty's best friend in the movie stats of her to the police that, "She just wanted something out of life.....anything". This is Renne Zellweger's breakout role, before she went on to do the Bridget Jones movies and the Oscar winning Chicago (2002). Her character of Betty is perfectly casted, as she has to act an act of a person so naïve and delusional she is completely unaware of the reality around her. When she is on the set of the soap opera, she constantly asks her co-stars "what they are doing" when they read cue cards and try to dress her in nurse uniforms. The two hitman (Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock) are a great match, on one level because of a hidden connection between them and level two lot because Rock plays the character as a rock hard stone cold killer, and Freeman has more of an experience and no-how to him that leaves him open to new things. In a world full of violence and evil natures, Freeman see's Betty as an innocent that must be put up upon a pedestal and cherished, while Rock just wants his payday. This might be both Chris Rock and Greg Kinnear's best performances, as Rock embodies a true psychopath that only shows humor in his obsession with tv soap opera's towards the end of the movie (spoilers, sorry it's still funny though!). His speech upon interviewing Betty's parents about how "God kills people so it must be natural" is bone chilling, reminiscent of the character of Pluto from Carl Franklin's underrated masterwork One False Move (1992). Kinnear plays a hilarious, over the top version of his actual personality in TV star David, and enjoys every minute of it. The movie is directed by Neil Lebute, master of movies that speak harsh truths about reality. The film has a lot of plot, so it never gets boring, along with a seamless pace that keeps throwing curveballs at the viewer. You think the movie is heading in a certain direction, and it quickly goes into another. People in the movie walk the fine line of feeling sorry for Betty's trauma, getting mad about her unwillingness to accept reality (her eventual roommate Rosa played by Tia Texada), and seeing a lost soul that they can shape to their selfish desires. Most people take advantage of Betty's confused state to make their own desires come true, the movie taking a pretty dark turn as David and the soap-opera producers invite Betty on the set and use her image and dedication of the show (deftly titled "A Reason to Love") as a breath of fresh air for their show (and we all know David has other things on his mind as well). The cinematography is by Jean Yves Escoffier, who brings a gritty quality to such a mainstream feature, the same on he used on Gummo (1997) and his music video for Johnny Cash's "Hurt". In a lot of ways, Nurse Betty has mainstream movie stars and production values with an Indie movie flair and idealism. Labute walks a fine line in this movie of his usual contempt for human nature and his comedic charm, for the former see his directorial debut, the uncompromising 1997 film In the Company of Men and his Samuel Jackson corrupt cop thriller Lakeview Terrace (2008). He also has a light-hearted side though, epitomized by the great scene where the two hitman go to the grand canyon, and Rock watches in disbelief as Freeman dances with an apparition he thinks his real. These kind of comedic charms and whimsical dialogue are later seen in his classic black comedy remake, Death at a Funeral (2010). The screenplay was not written by LeBute this time around, but by two authors: John Richards and James Flamberg. Flamburg is mainly known for musical scores on films, while John C. Richards has only two other credits to his same, the light hearted big budget flop Sahara (2005) and the newer HBO series Paterno (2018) starring Al Pacino. John C. Richards has a knack for tackling controversial topics with a lighthearted attitude. Upon scalping Betty's husband (played by a rednecked-out Aaron Eckhart) and first chasing Betty from Kansas to Los Angeles, Freeman's charter remarks: "I think most women would have screamed when they saw that, don't you?", which is a good example of dialogue that is humorous and horrifying at the same time. In all, Nurse Betty is movie about how we all have expectations of how other people should act. When betty got married, she imagined her husband would be a perfect man, but he constantly cheats on her and makes drug deals. She later holds up David as the perfect man he plays on tv, but he turns out to be a pretentious asshole. Freeman expects Betty to be the answer to all of his problems, but has to come to accept that she is just a confused witness to a crime she had nothing to do with. Just like in reality, it is human nature to expect the best out of other people, only as we get older do we discover that "best" is a relative term. One of Betty's friends in the movie states: "I went to Rome once, and no one can ever take that away from me." Funny how people think experiences like traveling and divorces/relationships make life matter. What this movie wants to ask us is what actually does make life matter, is it how many countries you have travelled to? Is it how many relationships you have had, and how long they lasted? What is the difference between being ignorant of something and being stupid? I guess in the end, we create our own reality, and we are exactly how happy as we let ourselves be.

Nurse Betty (2000)This is a sleeper, a dark comedy with enough inventive twists to call to mind The Truman Show but with a greater sense of reality to hold it down. Renee Zellweger is flawless as the naive, sweet, but utterly detached young woman named Betty who is addicted to a soap opera called "A Reason to Love." This seems sweet enough, but her husband is a jerk (totally) and things start to spiral, and get dizzy, as reality even for the viewer starts to shift ground.Not that you are ever confused about what is happening or who the good guys are. The good guys are not Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock, for sure, as this unlikely and comedic father and son duo get involved, incidentally at first, in Betty's strange inner and outer life. A chase of sorts ensues, the soap opera becomes reality, and then reality becomes soap opera. And it's really hilarious and inventive and fast paced.Is it a total work of genius? Probably not. Maybe Charlie Kaufman would have added another twist in there (I'm not sure how), and certainly some of the side characters could have seemed less cardboard, or less awkward as actors. But Zellweger is unbelievable (really, your jaw might drop at how convincing she could play her mental blindness, and her awakening, of sorts). And Morgan Freeman is his usually convincing and engaging self. The utterly disgusting violence of one 20 second scene might turn off some viewers near the beginning, but if you can keep watching, the movie gets better from there. Much better.

Betty Sizemore (Renee Zellweger) lives her life through soap Opera "A Reason to Love" as a way to escape her slob husband and dull life. After a shocking incident involving two hit men (Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock), Betty goes into shock and travels to LA, believing that she is destined to marry the show's main character (Greg Kinnear).Nurse Betty is that rare thing, a lesser known film with an all-star cast and a fluffy Rom-Com plot that surprises with it's terrific script and spot on acting. Indeed, such a plot makes one question the R rating, but it's warranted all right. The shocking incident that sends Betty over the edge is a tad too graphic compared to the light, amusing comedy that is to come and feels like something out of a different movie, but at the same time it is necessary to believably show Betty's transformation into the doe eyed, lovable nut job she becomes.As we go along with Betty on her journey, director Neil LaBute works some extraordinary magic which makes the movie unique and high above your bog standard comedy of error. An example of this would be Betty's first meeting with her crush. She pours her heart out to him and he plays along, thinking she's auditioning for a part on the show. Even as we are aware of the ludicrous nature of Betty's ramblings, the music swells as she speaks, giving us, the audience, Betty's emotional perspective. We almost believe what she is saying, yet we understand that her mind is fractured. Whereas other filmmakers would try to accent the ridiculousness of the situation to wring every ounce of possible comedy out of the scene, LaBute is sensitive to his main character and treats her with the utmost sympathy and understanding.The banter between the hit men played by Freeman and Rock is priceless, the excellent script doling out clever line after clever line for them to riff off of. Freeman in particular is excellent as always, pacing himself as his character slowly and blindly falls in love with his own ideal of Betty, not even truly knowing who she is or what has happened to her. Aaron Eckhart once again shows versatility in the thankless role of Betty's no-good husband and he is almost unrecognisable. The other revelation here is Kinnear, whose portrayal of the soap's star is not too overcooked. There's a tendency to lay on the celebrity bastard cliché as thickly as possible, and Kinnear resists, instead imbuing him with a pompous yet restrained self importance, despite simply being a soap star.The soap opera is realised so well, it could almost exist. LaBute and co hit the nail on the head with this one and a good thing too. If the soap opera had been too satirical, a large part of the film would not have worked. To do a "Days of Our Lives" spoof as seen in Friends would have been the wrong move for this movie. The dedication to detail pays off, as the style and feel of the soap opera begins to bleed into Betty's reality more and more, while keeping with the overall unintentionally comedic aspect of the genre. The scenes on the set feel real, as opposed to some films in which the atmosphere feels so manufactured, you wondered why people who do it for a living can't get it right.The neat resolution of the final act, while being a tad predictable, is wholly satisfying overall. It's a shame that after LaBute directed this wonderful film, the mainstream came calling for him to direct the abysmal remake of The Wicker Man, a fine example of a man so totally above the material given to him. Unfortunately, one cannot absolve him of all responsibility.If you haven't seen Nurse Betty, it's something to discover. If you have, it's worth a re-visit. There is a charm to Nurse Betty that is infectious, even if it may not leave you thinking that much afterwards. A hidden gem nonetheless.

NURSE BETTY is a delicious black comedy that is an affectionate send-up of the film noir genre that takes some effective swipes at the television industry as well. Renee Zellweger stars as Betty, a sweet-natured waitress and housewife who is a devoted follower of a soap opera called "A Reason to Love." One evening, while watching her tape of today's episode, Betty witnesses the brutal murder of her slimy, drug-dealer husband (Aaron Eckhart)by a pair of ruthless hit men (Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock). This incident causes a microchip in Betty's mind to blow and she packs her bags and decides to drive to Los Angeles to find Dr. David Ravelle, her favorite character on the soap, with the hit men hot on her trail, who have to take out the only witness to their crime. This comedy makes all the right moves, thanks to a razor-sharp screenplay and wonderful performances from a perfect cast. Zellweger is absolutely enchanting as Betty, an endearing performance that earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy. Freeman is charming as a surprisingly sensitive hit man and Rock, as always, steals every scene he is in as Freeman's explosive young partner. Greg Kinnear offers a charismatic turn as George McCord, the actor who plays Dr.David Ravelle and finds himself enamored with Betty. Allison Janney, Kathleen Whilhoite, and Crispin Glover offer effective support as well in this delightful comedy that is warm, witty, smart, and heartbreaking. Don't miss this sleeper.