''Cake'' is a 2014 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by Daniel Barnz, written by Patrick Tobin, and starring

Jennifer Aniston Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...

Adriana Barraza Adriana Barraza González (born 5 March 1956) is a Mexican actress, acting teacher, and director. In 1999 director Alejandro González Iñárritu cast her as the mother of Gael García Bernal's character in '' Amores perros'', which was nominat ...

Felicity Huffman Felicity Kendall Huffman (born December 9, 1962) is an American actress. Huffman began her acting career in theatre, and in the 1990s also had many supporting roles in film and television. She starred as Dana Whitaker in the comedy-drama '' Spor ...

William H. Macy William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in mainstream films. Some of his best known starring roles include those i ...

Anna Kendrick Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Satellite Award, five Teen Choice Awards, three MTV Movie Awards, and nominations for an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award a ...

, and Sam Worthington. It debuted in the Special Presentations section of the

2014 Toronto International Film Festival The 39th annual Toronto International Film Festival, the 39th event in the Toronto International Film Festival series, was held in Canada from 4–14 September 2014. David Dobkin's film '' The Judge'', starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert D ...

. ''Cake'' received mixed reviews and was a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, grossing $2.9 million against its $7–10 million budget. However, Aniston's dramatic performance received positive reviews and brought her a nomination at the

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

and another at the

Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards (also known as SAG Awards) are accolades given by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). The award was founded in 1952 to recognize outstanding performances in movie an ...

Plot

A year after surviving a car accident that killed her son, former attorney Claire Bennett struggles with chronic pain, making her angry. Silvana, her housekeeper, caretaker and chauffeur, looks after all of her needs. Since the accident, Claire rides lying down while Silvana drives her everywhere. Her pain medication abuse stems from not accepting her son's death and the

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

of Nina, a member of her chronic pain support group. Claire distances herself from her husband Jason, eventually asking him to move out. She leaves the support group after describing Nina's suicide in detail. Addicted to alcohol and to the

opioid Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid use ...

percocet Oxycodone/paracetamol, sold under the brand name Percocet among others, is a fixed-dose combination of the opioid oxycodone with paracetamol (acetaminophen), used to treat moderate to severe pain. In 2020, it was the 69th most commonly prescr ...

and oxycontin, she eventually has to resort to buying the drugs illegally in

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

. She dreams vividly and hallucinates about Nina. At her pool

physical therapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, pat ...

Claire is uncooperative; her physical therapist informs the doctor she hasn't improved in six months, meaning her pain medication could get cut off. After her session, Claire jumps into the pool with body weights, seemingly to kill herself. She stays on the bottom for a long time before rising to the surface. At the threat of a lawsuit, Annette (the support group leader) gives Claire Nina's home address. Claire goes to the house, telling the occupant a lie about having lived there as a child. Nina's husband Roy, however, was tipped off by Annette and confronts her as she is leaving. She asks him what he would say to his wife now. He responds that he hates Nina for ruining his life and that of their son Casey. Bonding over their loss and isolation, Claire and Roy go to Nina's grave, where he hangs a wind chime. A few nights later Claire surprises him at home and takes Nina's leftover Percocet. Nina returns in Claire's dreams, chastising her for using people. During lunch with Roy and Casey, the man responsible for Claire's car accident, Leonard, shows up at her house to apologize, racked with guilt. She physically attacks him, releasing some of her pent-up anger. Afterwards, she inadvertently overdoses on the pain medication; realizing what has happened, she forces herself to vomit before passing out. Taken to the hospital, she dreams of Nina presenting her with a birthday cake with six lit candles, explaining that she feels guilty about not being able to make a homemade birthday cake for her son. Claire is discharged from the hospital and struggles to remain drug free. She asks Silvana to drive her to Riverside drive-in, where she had her first date with Jason. Wandering away, she lies down on the nearby railroad tracks and hallucinates a conversation with Nina, who gets Claire to admit she was a good mother. Claire hears Silvana calling her and when she gets up, Nina vanishes. Silvana, in Spanish, loudly criticizes Claire for abusing everyone and pushing away Jason, who is also suffering the loss of their son. She is interrupted when Claire notices the car has been stolen, forcing them to stay in a motel and get a rental to return to Los Angeles the next day. The next day Becky, a girl from

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

on her way to Los Angeles, tries to steal Claire's purse. Claire brings her home to make her a homemade cake. Silvana later wakes Claire when she sees Becky has in fact stolen the purse, but has left a beautiful cake. Claire takes it to Roy for his son's birthday, as a way of thanking Nina. She and Silvana go to visit her son's grave, where Silvana hangs a wind chime in a nearby tree. On the ride home, Claire finally sits upright in the car.

Cast

as Claire Bennett *

as Silvana *

as Nina Collins * Sam Worthington as Roy Collins * Mamie Gummer as Bonnie *

as Annette *

as Leonard * Chris Messina as Jason Bennett * Lucy Punch as Nurse Gayle * Evan O'Toole as Casey Collins *

Britt Robertson Brittany Leanna Robertson (born April 18, 1990) is an American actress. She is known for her lead role in '' The First Time'' (2012), and has appeared in the films ''Tomorrowland'' (2015), '' The Space Between Us'' (2017), ''A Dog's Purpose'' ...

as Becky *

Paula Cale Paula Cale (born June 2, 1970) is an American actress best known for her role as Joanie Hansen on the television series '' Providence''. Early life Cale was born Paula Korologos in Great Falls, Virginia. Her father, Tom C. Korologos, worked as ...

as Carol * Ashley Crow as Stephanie *

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo Manuel García-Rulfo Lapuente (born February 25, 1981) known professionally as Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, is a Mexican actor and model. He is best known for roles in films such as ''Cake'' and ''Bless Me, Ultima'', as well as the television program '' ...

as Arturo * Camille Guaty as Tina * Allen Maldonado as Buddy *

Camille Mana Camille Mana is an American actress. Career Camille Mana originated the title role in the World Premiere of ''Asuncion'', a play written by Jesse Eisenberg. She starred opposite Eisenberg and Justin Bartha at The Cherry Lane Theatre in New Yor ...

as Nurse Salazar * Julio Oscar Mechoso as Dr. Mata * Pepe Serna as Nuncio *

Misty Upham Misty Anne Upham (July 6, 1982 – October 5, 2014) was a Blackfeet actress. She attracted critical acclaim for her performance in the 2008 film ''Frozen River'', for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Fem ...

as Liz *

Rose Abdoo Rose Marie Abdoo (born November 28, 1962) is an American actress and comedian, known for her roles as Stars Hollow's local mechanic, Gypsy, on ''Gilmore Girls'' and as Spanish teacher Señorita Rodriguez on ''That's So Raven''. Life and career ...

as Innocencia * Alma Martinez as Irma

Production

On February 10, 2014, it was announced that

would play the lead in ''Cake''. Daniel Barnz, the director, said "Of the zillions of Jennifer Aniston fans, I might be the biggest one of all. I've especially loved her more dramatic performances, and I can’t wait to watch her tackle a role that has such a brilliantly funny voice and so much raw pain (hats off to writer Patrick Tobin). I’m honored to be collaborating with Ben, Kristin and Courtney, and it’s exciting that Cake will be the first film under the Cinelou banner. It feels like we’re all taking a leap of faith together, and that’s pretty thrilling." On March 15, Mexican actress

was also announced in the cast of the drama. The rest of the cast was revealed on April 1.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as ...

, which took place in Los Angeles, began April 3, 2014 and ended mid-May.

Release

''Cake'' was released in select theatres on December 31, 2014 by Cinelou Films, before going on

general release A film screening is the displaying of a motion picture or film, generally referring to a special showing as part of a film's production and release cycle. To show the film to best advantage, special screenings may take place in plush, low seat-cou ...

on January 23, 2015 by

Freestyle Releasing Freestyle Releasing, LLC is an independent film distributor based in Los Angeles, California, founded in 2004, specializing in releasing films theatrically. Unlike most distributors, Freestyle Releasing does not put up any prints and advertising ...

. The film was released on DVD &

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

April 21, 2015.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 49% based on 133 reviews, with an average rating of 5.80/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''Cake'' finds Jennifer Aniston making the most of an overdue opportunity to test her dramatic chops, but it lacks sufficient depth or warmth to recommend for all but her most ardent fans." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a score of 49 out of 100, based on reviews from 38 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". At the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

premiere, the cast received a standing ovation. The performances of Jennifer Aniston and Adriana Barraza have been highly praised by some critics. Pete Hammond of '' Deadline'' described Aniston's performance as "heartbreakingly good... There are really no tricks to this performance. It's raw and real, poignant and unexpected." Clayton Davis of ''Awards Circuit'' spoke of Aniston's performance as "the single best performance by an actress this year... Aniston's performance is something that most actresses will pray to be able to achieve, but never come close." In his review for HitFix, Gregory Ellwood wrote that "Aniston makes you believe in Claire's pain. She makes you believe this character is at her lowest point and only she can pull herself out of it. There is no Oscar scene. There is no massive crying fit. It's a complete performance from beginning to end and she deserves the appropriate accolades for it." Of Aniston's performance, David Nusair of ''Reel Film Reviews'' wrote "...the actress steps into the shoes of her thoroughly damaged character to an often revelatory extent." Sheri Linden of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' also spoke positively of Aniston's performance, writing "Aniston lends the role an impressively agonized physicality and brings ace timing to the screenplay's welcome gallows humor."

Accolades

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cake 2014 films 2014 drama films American independent films American drama films 2010s English-language films Films about road accidents and incidents Films about suicide Films directed by Daniel Barnz Films produced by Jennifer Aniston Films scored by Christophe Beck Cinelou Films films Echo Films films Films about depression Films about grieving Films set in Los Angeles Films shot in Los Angeles 2014 independent films 2010s American films Films about disability