Cake is a classic example of a film’s quality not being up to par with its main performer’s work. Despite featuring one of Jennifer Aniston’s best performances since The Good Girl, the cloying and corny aesthetics of its storytelling panders the film, and makes it yet another awards-wannabe.
A female chronic pain support group, following the suicide of their beloved member Nina (Anna Kendrick), discharges their most uncooperative member Claire (Aniston) after a string of bad behavior and her lack of empathy towards this situation. While her hard-drinking, pill-popping days go on, over time Claire begins to grow fascinated by Nina’s death, discovering her troubles mirrored her own tragedies. From there, she becomes acquainted with Nina’s son and her widow Roy (Sam Worthington). Thanks to them, and her paid help Silvana (Adriana Barraza), Claire finally begins her own healing.
All too often, Cake comes across as a film school student’s attempt to make a deep, Oscar-worthy feature. Much like director Daniel Barnz’s past features, Won’t Back Down and Phoebe in Wonderland, the performances are honorable and accomplished, but its mundane plotting and by-the-books execution cancels any of the film's emotional investment.
In the beginning, it feels like a How-To book on being cynical and self-pitying. As it goes along, however, it recreates, ad nauseam, every cliché and disillusionments of woe-is-me indies from Sundance. Many of these problems come from Patrick Tobin’s unimaginative screenplay. Despite some winning jokes and effectively thoughtful discussions, a majority of the writing is too calculated and predictable to obtain the raw, honest feel the filmmakers so desperately want to gain.
For a movie called Cake, it’s fitting this movie is a bit too light and fluffy. Even with its dark subject matter, it's too light to excel and comes across, primarily, as a better-than-average Lifetime movie. Barnz's intentions are good, but the lack of originality and productivity makes this a fairly flimsy effort. What’s worse, the clumsy storytelling — with Silvana’s storyline brought up and forgotten so much, it's unclear exactly what her role is in the movie is supposed to be — disrupts the effectiveness of the performances.
To Aniston’s credit, this is more than the “make-up free” performance awards pundits made it out to be. It’s surprisingly dilated acting; a portrayal that, by choice, is her most humble and sincere performance to date. She is effective in showcasing the buried emotions in her character, without having to say or show too much to communicate it. Also giving some nice supporting turns are, shockingly, Worthington and the sadly underused Barraza, who carry some of the movie’s most deferential moments thanks to their chemistry with the lead actress.
For all its hard-earned sentimentality, though, Cake is too patronizing to win you over and too simple-minded to say anything new. Barnz's film is just your average traditional redemption story, and not a very good one at that. Aniston’s committed and heartfelt in her efforts, but it's not enough. For all her hardships and pain, Claire is just not that interesting of a character, and the film is equally as disingenuous.