Photo Courtesy of Cinelou Films
Finally, Hollywood is talking about chronic pain. Or is it? Coming Soon—January 23, 2015, Cake will be showing in theaters. Jennifer Aniston is receiving accolades for her portrayal of a woman battling the demons of ongoing pain from an accident and the suicide of a fellow support [pain] group member. Critics are remarking with praise about her portrayal–plain looks, acerbic yet humorous personality and physicality. This movie is rated R for language, substance abuse and brief nudity. It is a comedy, drama.
Those of us in the pain world have an important role to play. I urge each of us, whether living with pain, caring for someone in pain or providing healthcare support to others with pain to get out and watch this movie. We have a unique perspective and our impressions of this production are critical. Did Aniston get it right? Do the supporting characters accurately reflect of our society’s reaction to pain or merely a caricature? Will we find the writers, producers and director enlightened or ones who “drank from the Kool Aid well “of myths and misconceptions about the plight of people living with pain? Is the movie really about pain or substance abuse or both?
Will Cake satisfy our collective sweet tooth or escalate further decay? Watch for showings in your area. Be a member of the movie audience and share your impressions after the show.
I recently watched this in the comfort of my home. I picked a quiet evening when I was home alone so I would have little or no distractions. Once the movie started within a few minutes I was jumping up to grab a tablet and pen. I guess it is the advocate in me.
One of the few good things I can say is that I felt Jennifer Aniston did a decent job portraying a person in pain as far as the way we move around when in pain. The part where she is working in the pool with a therapist and gets angry because it is hurting and the therapist yells at her and tells her that she doesn’t want to get better. Yep, that was very accurate. I have been there done that. I am not saying that all those who work with people with pain are like that but there are some.
I just wish the producers, writers, directors and so on would have done more research about suicide due to uncontrolled pain and how people in the real world manage their pain. This movie could have been so much better by just simply telling the truth from the eyes of people living with pain. Why we think about suicide to finally be done with the pain, why we search for all available treatments (not just medications) to help ease the pain and give us quality of life.
I really disliked how they kept going back to her need for more pain medication. They never really come out and say she is addicted to the pain pills but there is no way someone could miss it.
They had a great opportunity to use this movie as a means of awareness and they chose to go down the road of addiction. I guess that is what sells movie tickets.
Thank you for the review, Noki. It is on my list of things to watch this summer.
We all are searching for a positive quality of life.
I look forward to seeing this movie.
I plan to got see this one at the movie theater!