Nurse Betty

What happens when a person decides that life is merely a state of mind? For Betty Sizemore, an avid follower of the medical soap A Reason To Live, it's the brutal murder of her sleazy husband which provides the catalyst. Refusing to accept the truth, she retreats into her own fantasy world and sets off across the country to pursue her "lost love" Dr. David Ravell. In reality, Ravell is George McCord, the lead actor on A Reason To Live. In pursuit, are her husband's killers (Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock). Together they converge on Los Angeles, the city of dreams.

This is director Neil LaBute's first big budget film, and the first on which he hasn't written the script. Despite this he manages to bring many of his own touches to the film, including some of his favoured actors and crew. The entire soap opera setting is the perfect excuse for the writers to slip in some choice lines, laced with a large dose of dramatic irony. How many times have we been subjected to the classic "It's not that I don't find you attractive, it's just that I'm not ready" on television?

This is not your typical light romantic comedy though. LaBute leaves his mark on the film by seeding a darker undercurrent, mostly by the use of fleeting moments of physical brutality, rather than the psychological brutality that characterises his other work.

One of the tricks that the movie plays is to let the viewer enter Betty's reality. This means you stop trying to pass judgement on the character and start believing that this could really be happening. When we initially see her she is generous to a fault and doesn't take enough care of herself. Her boorish husband treats her like a doormat and she just smiles a perfect diner waitress smile. She could easily seem too nice for her own good. But Zellweger neatly sidesteps this potential pitfall by playing the character straight-up, with no hint of comedy despite the absurd situations she ends up in.

The other actors provide the comic presence of the film, from the ridiculous personages of the soap stars to the various quirky small town friends. In particular Freeman and Rock make a effective double act, one calm and professional the other young and impetuous. Freeman would be the perfect gent if he would just stop killing people.

Nurse Betty is an impressive achievement: a romantic comedy which doesn't descend to the level of soapy schmaltz. The perfect cure for boredom.