Nurse Betty (Street Date: 2/27/01) I was lucky enough to view this in a second-run movie theatre with one of my close friends and was proud enough of myself to understand and appreciate the dark and sensible humor of this film. I am not so sure, though, that the majority of today's viewing audience will do the same. Renee Zellweger is Betty, a pretty waitress in a small Kansas town who is obsessed with a popular soap opera, "A Reason to Live", starring dashing actor George McCord (Greg Kinnear) as gorgeous Dr. David Revell. Betty's life revolves around the show and attempting to take nursing classes, which she is forced to forget about thanks to her deadbeat car salesman husband Del. It turns out that Del has run into some trouble with some drug dealers, who have hired professional killers Charlie (Morgan Freeman) and Wesley (Chris Rock) to retrieve their merchandise. In a truly gruesome sequence that seems strangely out-of-place in a comedy, Del is scalped and shot to death by the killers. Betty witnesses the murder and blacks out, only to re-awaken with a totally different personality. Having integrated herself into "A Reason to Live", she believes she is the ex-fiancee of Dr. David Revell and sets off to Los Angeles to track him down. I can't say anymore, for fear of spoiling the many surprises this film offers. Director Neil LaBute (director of YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS) manages to create a pretty engaging litle film that, unfortunately, did not perform sommersaults at the box office. Once word got out that the film wasn't a slapstick comedy (which the previews made it out to be), crowds stayed away in droves. I think it's better that they did, as many people just won't get it. LaBute does have a problem explaining the logic in his film and trying to tie the many events in the film together, making a pretty sloppy mess by the end. But what's in-between is likable enough to appreciate. Betty is evidently an unhappy woman in an unhappy marriage and doesn't know what she wants out of life because she has only been coerced into having what she has now! Her trauma-induced personality change offers her another chance to discover who she wants to be or who she should be. It is only through this experience that she could discover her own independence and that is a wonderful thing. The ying to Betty's yang is Charlie. Charlie is on his last job, trying to retrieve a large stash of an unnamed narcotic for an unseen client. The audience is given the idea that Charlie is unhappy with his life and has been for a long time. That is why his eventual personality change (which I won't reveal) is his own reaching out and dipping into the waters of individuality. Unfortunately, for him, he finds this type of existence is not for him and gets morally wounded in the process.

The cast, for the most part, is excellent. Renee Zellweger turns in a Golden Globe-winning performance and I still think she deserved it. Zellweger is an intelligent actress to engage in so many different roles in her career and I hope she continues to walk down this path. Morgan Freeman gives what I think is his best performance. He should have been nominated for a Golden Globe along with Zellweger. Now, keep in mind I haven't seen THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION yet, but I am already inclined to believe this is better. Freeman is another versatile actor who I applaud for taking this role.

Chris Rock, on the other hand, could have been left out altogether. Rock is a comedian, not an actor, something many producers do not understand. Rock is good enough for this shallow role, but I wonder if the film would have been more successful without him as marquee value. Greg Kinnear rarely plays an asshole and when he does, he does a great job of convincing the audience to hate him. Small parts played by Crispin Glover (Roy), Allison Janney (Lyla), Kathleen Wilhoite (Sue Ann), and Harriet Sansom Harris (Ellen) are developed into real flesh and blood characters because of the actors themselves. All four are excellent character actors who are familiar to many filmgoers and I'm especially glad to see them here. Especially Glover, who is always intense and interesting! NURSE BETTY is sort of a black comedy put into a blender with a screwball comedy. By the conclusion, the film has become a rather jumbled mess and the (almost) Hollywood ending is a little hard to swallow, but it does leave a nice taste in your mouth.                                                                 Rating: $3.50/$5

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