In fact, it is difficult to judge whether it is because of Aniston that makes this film more attractive, or the film itself. The director of the film, Daniel Balz, obviously does not want to work hard on the audiovisual language. The frequent front and back shots indicate a tendency to anti-attractive. This mental state points to the protagonist Claire’s past and present life, mixed with The abnormal death of Nina, a "difficult friend" of the Mutual Aid Society, has made this state of anxiety even worse. In the film, the usual positive and negative dialogues often show Claire’s momentary and complex mentality. This is a forceful point in the play, and it also makes the surrounding characters in contact with Claire plump, from her hourly work to Nina's husband, with their own complicated mentality, dealt with the "crazy woman" in front of the audience and at the same time.
Perhaps Aniston’s performance is too eye-catching, which limits the performance of other characters. More often, the characters, including Nina’s husband, assume a mapping function, showing Claire’s complex features through their behavior. This is also the breath that "Cake" took during 104 minutes of fairly plain taste. Claire often talks with Nina, who exists in front of him in his fantasy, trying to get Nina's true mentality. This is also a means by which Claire can liberate herself, and her Mexican part-time worker is also set off by her complicated family cultural background experience. Claire's nothingness. These passages are inattentive, and in fact, they do not effectively convey the intention of the creators. More often, things are just happening instead of being stated.
This also reflects the overall powerlessness of the film. Relying on Aniston's personal performance to drive the entire film to the audience is indeed more difficult. Claire’s illusion often flashes back to the scenes of Nina falling from the bridge. These scenes have not been confirmed to have been seen by Claire personally. However, the flashbacks of these illustrated cards break the slow rhythm of the film, and also It looks abrupt. In fact, experienced audiences can see at a glance that the theme of the film is physical and mental healing, and the ending is nothing more than two types, healing and unhealing. This is also a question of whether the film can effectively stitch the audience's expectations and their own expressions. When Claire is in At the end, a crucial move was made. This problem is self-defeating, but it is not exciting.
This is just like the position of "cake" in the film. The function is not to show the "cake" and the pain it carries, but to convey the protagonist's pain through this idealized and totem-like object. The source also indicates the visible form of the healing process. Just as Claire faced the people in reality and the imaginary Nina, "cake" is a signifier with no specific meaning. When its referential function disappears, the film automatically returns to a normal state of returning hand in hand with the protagonist. Looking back at all the faint plots that come and go, it is like a dream. But it's hard to say that the bridge segments in "Cake" are infinite in behavior. They have lost the attractive dream-making power on the surface of the image early, and the inside is actually pale. Although the image of Aniston in the film is real and compelling because of her intentional performance, but on the other hand, because of this investment, Aniston’s past classic female image has been destroyed. As a star, she has completed her role as a performing artist. Moving forward, while further breaking through the charm field of the past image. This is very rare and valuable, and at the same time it is a dangerous move for the film's ideology.
So "Cake" has surprises but not enough surprises, content but not fullness. It creatively places a painful woman in a variety of complex situations. The final solution is different, but it is by no means the best or the most exciting. It’s very touching, usually like this ending (you still have to watch it yourself), there should be a long-term dry and rainy heartbeat, but it doesn’t (at least I don’t). Aniston is too eye-catching and eye-catching for the whole movie. To the point of abnormality, is this an overkill? It is a question worth pondering.
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