Cake

In the award winning 2014 Toronto International Film Festival selection "Cake" is said to be a breakout role for Jennifer Aniston, but that kind of hype is highly debatable.

The support group that Claire (Aniston) attends (to help her deal with the chronic pain she suffers after surviving a car accident) just isn't working out for her. Much more effective is a whole lot of medication, like Percocet and Oxycodone, and that's something that no doctor will prescribe her.

She chooses to alienate her support group by trivializing the suicide of one of its members, Nina (Anna Kendrick). Nevertheless, whether it's brought on by guilt or excess of narcotics, Claire obsesses over Nina to the point where she hallucinates the dead woman's ghost is visiting her.

This fascination with Nina leads her visit the woman's widower, Roy (Sam Worthington), and his young son. In spite of the nefarious methods Claire uses to meet Roy they become friends who help each other deal with their mutual pain. In addition to her injuries, it turns out that Claire lost her child in the car accident.

Mexican actress Adriana Barraza does stand out in her quiet and thoughtful portrayal of a Claire's housekeeper who compassionately becomes her caretaker.

A cast like this is instantly intriguing -- it also features Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy in supporting roles -- but essentially this movie belongs to Aniston, and she is wonderful in it.

Still, she is no better or worse than in any other role, and to call her performance an acting milestone is misguided. Neither the character nor the subject matter is particularly revolutionary; the only thing unusual is that an actress known for her beauty allows herself to go without makeup (other than FX makeup, scarring from the car accident).

This Blu-ray disc has two short special features (around 3 and half minutes each) and the theatrical trailer. These are all just little promos without much meat to them.

"Cake"
Blu-ray
Rated R / 118 min.
cakemovie.net