Movie: Cake

I’ve seen a synopsis of this film that included some prose about Jennifer Aniston ‘bravely going without makeup’ in Cake. ‘Brave’ is not how I would describe it, but this is Hollywood where frankly, it probably is.Having said that I feel naked without lipstick but I think I could still face the man working in the coffee shop without it.They have made Aniston look her age to play Claire, in this film about pain and loss. We are not sure what Claire has lost accept her husband, friends and even her support group have alienated her. A member of her group has committed suicide and Claire, a former lawyer is intrigued to know why she did this and goes to visit her widower. Claire is clearly in a lot of pain and takes pills, usually with alcohol at every opportunity. Her only ‘friend’, her housekeeper drives her from pharmacy to home with her practically lying down in the passenger seat, but no one asks why. It’s only from close-ups that we notice scars on her face, but none of this is explained until much later in the film.And it doesn’t matter.I overheard people behind me in the cinema saying they would have wanted to know all about her (many) issues but it actually keeps you bound in with the story.The most tense scene is comes when she makes her housekeeper driver her to her native Mexico to buy more of her pills off-prescription. That then turns into one of the most heart-warming parts.Cake is darkly comic, despite the terrible tragedies and enjoyable rather than sad.It is all rather well-acted and put together. 7½/10Smile factor 8/10