Claire becomes fascinated by the suicide of a woman in her chronic pain support group while grappling with her own, very raw personal tragedy.
Jennifer Aniston lifts an addiction drama with a committed but never showy performance. It’s a pity the rest of the film can’t cut as deep.
The drugs don’t work – but thankfully Aniston does – in this slight but sly portrait of pain-meds hell, which wallows in self-pity when it should be grabbing our sympathy.
It seems cruel to suggest that Cake has a soggy bottom but it does feel only half-baked.
A manipulative affair propped up by a whip-smart lead performance.
As for Aniston, she gives an honest, well-intentioned performance, but it is marooned in an unsatisfying script whose emotional effects are unearned.
Jennifer Aniston gives a fine, if self-conscious, performance as Claire Bennett, the grieving, pain-wracked, pill-popping, hard-drinking heroine in this well-made but manipulative drama.
You hope it might open a few more opportunities for Aniston to test her mettle but even with her striking central performance to carry the film Cake is only half baked.
Verdict: A sad slice of life
A skuzzy, scowling and sarcastic Jennifer Aniston is the best thing about this indie-by-numbers redemption tale.
Perhaps Cake demands too much patience from its audience, but that is what a person consumed by grief requires.
You hope for the tang of lemon drizzle; what you ultimately get is Madeira, with the proverbial soggy bottom.
General release. Check local listings for show times.