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Cake (2014 film)

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Cake
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDaniel Barnz
Written byPatrick Tobin
Produced byBen Barnz
Jennifer Aniston
Kristin Hahn
Courtney Solomon
Mark Canton
StarringJennifer Aniston
Adriana Barraza
Mamie Gummer
Felicity Huffman
William H. Macy
Chris Messina
Lucy Punch
Britt Robertson
Anna Kendrick
Sam Worthington
CinematographyRachel Morrison
Edited byKristina Boden
Music byChristophe Beck
Production
companies
Distributed byCinelou Releasing, Freestyle Releasing[3]
Release dates
  • September 8, 2014 (2014-09-08) (TIFF)[1]
  • December 31, 2014 (2014-12-31)[2]
Running time
102 minutes[4]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$7–10 million[5]
Box office$2.9 million[6]

Cake is a 2014 American drama film written by Patrick Tobin, directed by Daniel Barnz, and starring Jennifer Aniston, Adriana Barraza, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Anna Kendrick, and Sam Worthington. It debuted in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[7]

Aniston's performance received strong praise and earned her nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award and Golden Globe Award.

Plot

The story centers on chronic pain sufferer Claire (Aniston) as she struggles to come to terms, not only with the aftermath of the car accident that killed her son and left her partially disabled by chronic pain, but also with the suicide of a woman from her chronic pain support group, Nina (Kendrick). The film documents how Claire's pain and grief affect her behavior, her relationships with other people, and her ability to function from just after Nina's death until she reaches a breakthrough point in her own path.

Cast

Production

On February 10, 2014, it was announced that Jennifer Aniston would play the lead in Cake.[8] 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."[8] On March 15, Mexican actress Adriana Barraza was also announced in the cast of the drama.[9] The rest of the cast was revealed on April 1.[10]

Principal photography, which took place in Los Angeles, began April 3, 2014[11] and ended May 6.[12]

Release

Cake was released in select theatres on December 31, 2014 by Cinelou Films, before going on general release on January 23, 2015 by Freestyle Releasing.[13][3]

Home media

The film was released on DVD & Blu-Ray April 21, 2015.

Reception

Cake received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 48% based on 112 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. 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."[14] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 49 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[15]

At the Toronto premiere, the cast received a standing ovation. The performances of Jennifer Aniston and Adriana Barraza have been highly praised by some critics.[16] 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."[17] 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."[18] 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."[19] 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."[20] Sheri Linden of the Los Angeles Times 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."[21]

Accolades

Awards
Year Award Category Recipient Result
2013 Nantucket Film Festival Showtime Tony Cox Screenplay Competition Patrick Tobin Won
2014 People Magazine Awards Movie Performance of the Year - Actress Jennifer Aniston Won
Capri-Hollywood Film Festival Best Actress Won
2015 Santa Barbara International Film Festival The Montecito Award Won
Critics' Choice Movie Awards Best Actress Nominated
Golden Globe Awards Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama Nominated
Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Nominated
Casting Society of America Low-Budget Drama Mary Vernieu, Lindsay Graham Nominated
Shanghai International Film Festival Golden Goblet Award for Best Feature Film Daniel Barnz Nominated
Shanghai International Film Festival Golden Goblet Award for Best Screenplay Won
PRISM Awards Feature Film Nominated

References

  1. ^ "TIFF Opening Press Conference - Festival 2014". YouTube. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  2. ^ http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/jennifer-aniston-on-cake-and-empathy/
  3. ^ a b "Cake". Freestyle Releasing. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  4. ^ "CAKE (15)". British Board of Film Classification. December 19, 2014. Retrieved December 19, 2014.
  5. ^ McNary, Dave (February 9, 2014). "Jennifer Aniston Starring in Indie Drama 'Cake'". Variety.
  6. ^ "Cake Box Office".
  7. ^ "Toronto Film Festival Lineup". Variety. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  8. ^ a b Tartaglione, Nancy (February 9, 2014). "Jennifer Aniston To Star In 'Cake'; First Pic Under New Cinelou Banner". Deadline.
  9. ^ Sneide, Jeff (March 14, 2014). "Jennifer Aniston Joined by Brad Pitt's 'Babel' Co-Star in 'Cake' (Exclusive)". The Wrap.
  10. ^ Sneide, Jeff (April 1, 2014). "Sam Worthington, Anna Kendrick, Chris Messina Join Jennifer Aniston in 'Cake' (Exclusive)". The Wrap.
  11. ^ "Jennifer Aniston On The Set Of 'Cake'".
  12. ^ "D Films". Facebook. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  13. ^ Bloom, David. "Jennifer Aniston On Connecting With Her 'Cake' Character – The Contenders VIDEO". Deadline. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  14. ^ "Cake". rottentomatoes.com. January 23, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  15. ^ "Cake". Metacritic. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
  16. ^ Sam Griffiths. "Cake". FilmPhorThought. Retrieved July 9, 2015./
  17. ^ Pete Hammond. "Jennifer Aniston Sparks Oscar Buzz With 'Cake' Movie In Toronto - Deadline". Deadline. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  18. ^ "Film Review: Cake Starring Jennifer Aniston". AwardsCircuit.com - By Clayton Davis. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  19. ^ "Review: Jennifer Anistons impressively raw performance tells her critics to eat Cake". HitFix. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  20. ^ "2014 TIFF Update #7 - Reviews by David Nusair". reelfilm.com. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
  21. ^ Los Angeles Times (December 30, 2014). "Review: Jennifer Aniston's never looked worse or been better in 'Cake' - LA Times". latimes.com. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
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