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Nurse Betty

Play trailer 1:32 Poster for Nurse Betty R 2000 1h 48m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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83% Tomatometer 129 Reviews 45% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
What happens when a person decides that life is merely a state of mind? If you're Betty, a small-town waitress and soap opera fan from Fair Oaks, Kansas, you refuse to believe that you can't be with the love of your life just because he doesn't really exist. After all, life is no excuse for not living. Traumatized by a savage event, Betty enters into a fugue state that allows -- even encourages -- her to keep functioning... in a kind of alternate reality.
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Nurse Betty

Nurse Betty

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Critics Consensus

Quirky in the best sense of the word, Nurse Betty finds director Neil LaBute corralling a talented cast in service of a sharp, imaginative script.

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Critics Reviews

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David Ansen Newsweek 03/07/2018
Swerving from viciousness to whimsy to dubious feminist fable, Nurse Betty doesn't jell. Still, with a cast as charmed as this, it comes oh so close. Go to Full Review
Nell Minow Common Sense Media 12/26/2010
4/5
This comedy has a few violent scenes. Go to Full Review
Andrew Sarris Observer 04/27/2007
The actors hold the movie together, particularly Ms. Zellweger and Mr. Freeman, whose characters achieve a remarkable intimacy in a most unlikely situation. Go to Full Review
Rob Gonsalves Rob's Movie Vault 09/02/2022
A
Without an ounce of cleverness or hipness, the film quietly speaks volumes about why we go to movies, and then proves it. Go to Full Review
Bob Grimm Sacramento News & Review 08/07/2008
4/5
Good performances all around, especially from Zellweger and Kinnear. Lots of good laughs laced with nastiness. Go to Full Review
Joe Lozito Big Picture Big Sound 07/14/2007
3.5/4
This is easily Ms. Zellweger's finest work. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Adel M Mar 25 It’s beautiful, delicate, soft movie captivating your feelings from start to end, one of the best movie for the last decade. I LOVE IT💖 See more Test T @TestTest1 02/19/2024 I watched this on DVD recently and I found it very confusing. I really did not know whether I was watching actual events unfold in Betty's life, or if the story was playing out as her fantasy, to protect her from what happened to her husband. How could she have possibly remained undiscovered in the next room with the TV on and the door ajar when he was killed? It just doesn't make any sense, and that's just the beginning. By the end, I was completely lost. The film is well made, with lots of nice locations and interesting dialogue. Morgan Freeman performs extremely well, making the film watchable. Renee Zellweger also performs well, but as the centre of the confusion I found her more challenging to appreciate. I found the other characters peculiar and difficult to relate to, and I resented the use of foreign language and subtitles. In my opinion, the problem with this movie occurred when it was written. No amount of skill and talent can rectify a flawed concept. Unfortunately it's just pretty nonsense and I can't recommend it. See more Zazoo909 C 07/20/2023 "Nurse Betty" feels like two horribly mismatched scripts stapled together by a drunk. First, the casting disaster: lovable, splindly teddy bear, voice-of-all wisdom, Morgan Freeman tries to play a cold-blooded Samuel L. Jackson a la "Pulp Fiction". Then, Chris Rock, playing his psychopath buddy, scalps a man alive, tearing off his hairy pate, screaming bloody murder!!...then they play it off for dark Tarantino chuckles? WTF? On top of this mess they've slapped a ditsy love story with Rene Zellweger at her ditsiest. To be fair, the central conceit - a PTSD-addled Ms. Z searching for love in a soap opera fantasy - this is brilliant, and as the pitiful Pollyanna, Rene's so amazing, we can't help falling for her and her impossible dream. Of course, with all that other blech glued on, it's hard to feel other than confused and betrayed, but you'll probably stick around just to see how this sunken ship tries to right itself. See more 06/13/2021 This was a good movie 3.6 See more uncle p 08/16/2020 Story/Screenplay: (4/5) This is a dark comedy that can elicit a lot of smiles throughout, which in itself is good, but anything more than a smile will probably come from something done or said by the antagonists of this story. Offsetting the dark aspects of this comedy is the main storyline that follows our sweet, innocent, and delusional protagonist as she makes her way to Hollywood to meet her dream man, a character in her favorite soap opera. There's several storylines running in parallel here, but it somehow works. Entertaining. Duration/Tempo: (4.5/5) At 1 hour and 50 minutes, it's an average length movie that felt very short. Nice direction and editing. Cast & Crew: (4.5/5) Renee Zellweger's performance was critical to the success of this film, and in this, she was outstanding. Some of the best lines came from Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock. Many of these were comedic in nature, which they delivered to near perfection. Very solid cast overall. Summary: (4.5/5) The story was very good, the cast was excellent, and the film moved quickly. A strong thumbs up. See more steve d 07/01/2020 Way too dark to be much of a comedy. See more Read all reviews
Nurse Betty

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Movie Info

Synopsis What happens when a person decides that life is merely a state of mind? If you're Betty, a small-town waitress and soap opera fan from Fair Oaks, Kansas, you refuse to believe that you can't be with the love of your life just because he doesn't really exist. After all, life is no excuse for not living. Traumatized by a savage event, Betty enters into a fugue state that allows -- even encourages -- her to keep functioning... in a kind of alternate reality.
Director
Neil LaBute
Producer
Steve Golin, Gail Mutrux
Screenwriter
John C. Richards, James Flamberg
Distributor
USA Films
Production Co
ab'-strakt pictures, Propaganda Films, IMF, Pacifica Film, Abstrakt Film, Gramercy Pictures
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 8, 2000, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 26, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$25.2M
Runtime
1h 48m
Sound Mix
SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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