B-Movies & Couch Classics
Reviews of Movies Often
Overlooked or Forgotten
Nurse Betty
R, USA Home Entertainment
by Arik Ben Treston
 Neil LaBute has taken a decidedly different turn with
Nurse Betty than with his previously harsher films, In The Company Of Men and
Your Friends and Neighbors. Betty is a sweeter and funnier look at women and relationships than the scheming and brutal male duo in
Company who plot to date and brutally dump a deaf woman to get back at the female race and the angst-ridden relationship-phobic babies who populated
Your Friends.
Betty stars the Golden Globe-winning Renée Zellweger as Betty, a diner waitress who has both a horrible husband Del (Aaron Eckhart, from
In the Company…, Erin Brockovich) and a deep and profound love of “A Reason To Love,” the soap opera that takes Betty away every afternoon from her boring Kansas life. Del may be the man in her life, but her true love is Dr. David Ravell (Greg Kinnear), the star of “A Reason To Love” who Betty finds irresistible. Her co-workers even give her a life-size cutout of the good doctor for her birthday.
Betty’s life takes a dramatic turn when she witnesses a brutal murder conducted by the characters of Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock, as a gruesome twosome who are on the trail of missing drugs in the back of a Buick LeSabre. At the same time she witnesses the trauma, the soap opera is playing in the background and her mind warps her perception to cover up the shock by making her believe the show is real and she must find her former fiancé Dr. David
Ravell.
With this new mission, Betty sets out on a cross-country trip to reunite with her love (all the while being hunted by the hitmen who believe she has something to do with the missing drugs).
Zellweger captures the perfect mixture of kindness and innocence that makes her character loveable, not crazy. While she may be in a reality-altering state, she still exudes coherence and utter charm. Betty may not be in Kansas anymore, but she makes her new home of Los Angeles as homey as possible. In a funny turn of events, Betty gets to meet the fictional doctor and, well, you should watch the film because it’s better than reading the details.
Freeman, in his search for Betty, sees her as his last project before giving up this life of “being the garbage man of the human condition.” He begins to feel a connection with her and his search is both charming and terrifying. Rock has the unfortunate luck of being cast the least well-written part. He tries his best but is often left standing around with no dialogue and nothing to do. To compensate, he becomes a little annoying at times.
Joining the cast are two splendid performances by Crispin Glover and Pruitt Taylor Vince (Vince played the shifty-eyed guy on stilts from a great “X-Files” episode and also had meaty film roles in
Mumford and Heavy). Glover is impressive in a much-deserved comeback role (he’s the “Thin Man” in
Charlie’s Angels). He seems less creepy nowadays than he did in the ’80s with roles as George McFly in
Back to the Future and his strange performance in River’s
Edge. Glover is the reporter and Vince is the sheriff from Betty’s town. These two are trying to crack the murder case and the disappearance of Betty and are effective as comic relief.
Betty is a whimsical fairy-tale like comedy that perfectly interjects drama and sugar when needed. This is a film that deserves more attention and respect as a truly wonderful way to spend two hours. The breezy tone and off-kilter humor are a refreshing change from recent over-the-top comedies that hit you over the head to make sure you “get it”. We get this and we like it (hopefully).
Requiem For A Dream
Unrated, Artisan Home Entertainment
 While recent films have done a good job
tackling the long descent into the drug-addiction abyss (Rush, Sid & Nancy, Last Exit To
Brooklyn), few have been as visceral and gut wrenching as Requiem For A
Dream. Director Darren Aronofsky’s ambitious sophomore film (after the odd and mesmerizing Pi), follows the lives of four individuals and their addictions. There is Sarah Goldfarb (in a phenomenal performance by Best Supporting Actress nominee Ellen Burstyn), who is a quiet retired elderly woman living alone in Brooklyn. She loves watching her favorite infomercial about weight-loss and when there is a chance for her to appear on the show, she decides to slim down so that she can fit into her beloved red dress. Her son Harry (Jared Leto, looking skeletal) is a junkie that comes over now and then when he needs to ‘borrow’ something to pawn for drug money. His best friend Tyrone (a powerful Marlon Wayans, who should do more drama) and girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) are just as wasted as he is. They spend all of their time chasing a score and trying to hustle deals on their own.
Sarah’s unsuccessful attempt to diet leads her to seek medical help. The doctor prescribes diet pills for her and this sets up her downfall. Her escalating addiction provides the most powerful scenes in the film as she proceeds to lose her mind in her quest for thinness. The none-too subtle slam at the lack of supervision provided by her doctors and the medical community hits home.
Harry, Tyrone and Marion have high (no pun intended) dreams and aspirations but every time they get close to their goals, the dirty world of drugs pulls them back. Marion’s dream is to open an art gallery with Harry, but whenever the money runs out she resorts into offering up her body to fund her habits.
This film had a difficult time securing an “R” rating and Artisan took the brave step of skipping the dreaded “NC-17” rating and decided to release it unrated. A bold move since most theatres will not show “NC-17” or Unrated films. Part of the criticism of the film was that it glorified drug use. There is no real point in trying to even dignify that with a response except to say that if drugs look appealing to you after you watch this film then you are not only suicidal, you are stupid. Nothing is appealing here. These characters are sinking into hell and we are taken along for the ride to watch what happens to them in all of its disgusting reality. From pus-filled infected needle-marked arms to hallucination of a growling refrigerator lurching towards Sarah, this film spares no details in unveiling the ugliness of addiction.
The film was based on Hubert Selby, Jr.’s novel (the screenplay of which he co-wrote with Aronofsky) and while it is difficult at times to watch, it is well worth it. The performances are all first-class here and while Burstyn is always (deservedly) singled out for her role, the rest shouldn’t be ignored either.
Kinetic, unsettling and ruthless, Requiem is window into a world in which most of don’t, and hopefully won’t, ever have to live.
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