Nurse Betty (2000)

84% of critics liked it
(130 reviews)
38% of users liked it
(33,771 ratings)

After two acclaimed independent films in which he took a troubling look at male/female relations, director Neil LaBute moves on to less controversial ground in this dark comedy. Betty Sizemore (Renee Zellweger) is a woman from Kansas City who waits tables at a diner and is married to an insensitive… More After two acclaimed independent films in which he took a troubling look at male/female relations, director Neil LaBute moves on to less controversial ground in this dark comedy. Betty Sizemore (Renee Zellweger) is a woman from Kansas City who waits tables at a diner and is married to an insensitive thug named Del (Aaron Eckhart). One of Betty's few pleasures in life is the soap opera A Reason to Love. Her favorite character is handsome Dr. David Ravell, played by George McCord (Greg Kinnear). One night, Del gets involved in a drug deal with a pair of gangsters, Charlie (Morgan Freeman) and his sidekick Wesley (Chris Rock). Del's thoughtless racial slurs lead to an arguement, and the short-tempered Wesley attacks him; Charlie is forced to kill Del, as Betty watches. Dazed and in shock, Betty hops into her car, deciding that the time is right for a date with destiny. Betty tracks down George McCord, and soon the soap's producer Lyla (Allison Janney) is considering Betty for a part on A Reason to Love, not realizing that Betty doesn't want to play Dr. Ravell's nurse and fiance, she wants to be her. Betty, meanwhile, has no idea that the drugs that Del was trying to sell are still in her car, and that Charlie and Wesley are hot on her trail, determined to get the dope and silence her once and for all. Nurse Betty also features Kathleen Wilhoite, Crispin Glover, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. The film was shown in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the prize for Best Screenplay. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 48 min.
Directed By: Neil LaBute
Written By: John Richards, James Flamberg
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Sep 8, 2000 Wide
On DVD: Apr 3, 2001
Studio: USA Films

Critic Reviews

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
The actors hold the movie together, particularly Ms. Zellweger and Mr. Freeman, whose characters achieve a remarkable intimacy in a most unlikely situation.
Emanuel Levy, Variety
In his third, most accomplished film, LaBute puts aside the inquiry of misogyny that dominated his previous work and immerses himself in a lighter romantic fable about the collision of fantasy and reality, with a terrific performance from Renee Zelwegger
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
LaBute didn't write Nurse Betty, but his fierce comic touch is, luckily, all over this movie.
Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today
As it overdoses on quirks and violence, Nurse Betty isn't always the right prescription. But observing Zellweger as she dispenses her brand of movie magic definitely is good for what ails you.
Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
The flip side to LaBute's cheapjack cynicism, as it turns out, is a cheapjack romanticism. They're equally counterfeit.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
The actors are so expert and so congenially cast, and LaBute is so good at maintaining his agile, jokey tone, that his tale has an exhilarating flow.
Nell Minow, Common Sense Media
This comedy has a few violent scenes.
Bob Grimm, Sacramento News & Review
Good performances all around, especially from Zellweger and Kinnear. Lots of good laughs laced with nastiness.
Prairie Miller, WBAI Web Radio
Rene's got the undivided attention of the audience right beside her the whole time, and even solidly emotionally touched by her invisible world.
Joe Lozito, Big Picture Big Sound
This is easily Ms. Zellweger's finest work.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
After a summer of cookie-cutter comedies and blowsy action flicks, Neil LaBute's Nurse Betty is good for what ails you.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Almost every emotion and action on view is presented as false, idiotic or superficial.
Ron Wells, Film Threat
Despite cringing at many of Betty's deluded interactions with the residents of her final destination and the director's seeming lack of faith in the believability of many of the scenes, Nurse Betty still turns out to be entertaining.
Scott Nash, Three Movie Buffs
If I had to use just one word to describe Nurse Betty, that word would undoubtedly be...Quirky. And I mean that in a really, really good way.
Stuart Klawans, Nation
LaBute is working from a script that's blessedly free of his mechanized story construction and showboating, faux-Mamet dialogue. And guess what? He turns out to be a fine director.
Jeffrey Overstreet, Looking Closer
In the end [it] tells us we shouldn't depend on each other... we should be glad that 'we have ourselves.' What a lonely and sad conclusion.
Judith Egerton, Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Nurse Betty suffers, however, from a script that relies on jaded hit men for comic impact. We've seen it done too many times since...Pulp Fiction.
Alex Ramirez, Cinenganos
Las actuaciones son buenas, al nivel del gran elenco que se reúne, pero el guión es el que se lleva los aplausos.
Gerry Gallo, Hollywood.com
One of the finest-written surprises of the year.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
A strong contender for one of the best films of the year.

Read all 22 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Steven C

Neil LaBute's "Nurse Betty" is a remarkable film. While LaBute takes a lot from The Coen Brothers (determinism, shades of existential violence, a dash of film noir) and David Lynch (the collision of fantasy and reality) which cements his role as opportunist rather than… More
Neil LaBute's "Nurse Betty" is a remarkable film. While LaBute takes a lot from The Coen Brothers (determinism, shades of existential violence, a dash of film noir) and David Lynch (the collision of fantasy and reality) which cements his role as opportunist rather than auteur, "Nurse Betty" remains fresh, vibrant and funny. The film incredibly manages to balance three completely different avenues and makes them cohesive. You have hit men Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock in one section, the psychotically broken Betty and her adventures in Los Angeles in another and then characters from small town Kansas rounding things out. The film manages to find a way to intertwine these aspects in a satisfying and intriguing way, always remembering the the truth behind this wacky scenario. "Nurse Betty" shouldn't work, it should have been a massive, convoluted mess. But it's not. It's an incredibly sly, biting and extremely heartfelt picture with a dynamite Renee Zellweger at it's center.
Michael S

A biting dark comedy with a refreshingly odd premise, "Nurse Betty" is another truly original film from director Neil LaBute. Like most of his films (INCLUDING "The Wicker Man") you sometimes don't know when to laugh, cry, or cringe... but that is precisely… More
A biting dark comedy with a refreshingly odd premise, "Nurse Betty" is another truly original film from director Neil LaBute. Like most of his films (INCLUDING "The Wicker Man") you sometimes don't know when to laugh, cry, or cringe... but that is precisely what makes (most of) his films so memorable and wonderful. Indeed, "Nurse Betty" is a wonderful film; easily ranking with LaBute's best. Stellar writing, colorful characters, and hilariously awkward situations abound, while Renee Zellweger has never been more lovable, infectious, or charismatic as she is here. A great, slightly-twisted chunk of entertainment.
Aaron N

Charlie: People who get the calls are good. Not flashy, good. They get in, they get out, nobody knows a goddamn thing. You understand? Boom, boom, boom. Three in the head, you know they're dead. A dark hitman comedy, mixed with a light, delusional adventure quest. Freeman and… More
Charlie: People who get the calls are good. Not flashy, good. They get in, they get out, nobody knows a goddamn thing. You understand? Boom, boom, boom. Three in the head, you know they're dead. A dark hitman comedy, mixed with a light, delusional adventure quest. Freeman and Rock are hilarious as proffesional hit men that travel all over the country to figure out what the hell is up with Renee Zellweger as Betty. Betty, who was a waitress obsessed with a soap opera, spends most of the movie mezmorized after a traumatizing event, and she does it well. It's a fun offbeat comedy, mixing lives of hit men and a shell shock vitcim. Greg Kennear also stars as the actor staring in the soap opera. When he comes on screen as the actor, Kinnear does what he's good at, being a Greg Kinnear asshole character. Betty Sizemore: My friend says if you were any more handsome it would be a crime. It's a shame you're such an asshole. Plenty of moments make this a fun movie to watch. Betty Sizemore: He also works at Loma Vista. Chief Nurse Iris Foster: What is that? Betty Sizemore: It's the real pretty area, with the palm trees out front and the mountains in the background. Chief Nurse Iris Foster: You have just described all of southern California.
Michael G

Boring and disappointing.
Leigh R

It was okay.
Nate Z

[font=Arial][color=darkred]Can a fairy tale have a dark unertone to it below all the bubbly whinsicalness? Hell, the Grimm tales were barbaric before they became homogenized, sanitized, and finally Disneytized. 'Nurse Betty' presents a modern day fairy tale with the strike… More
[font=Arial][color=darkred]Can a fairy tale have a dark unertone to it below all the bubbly whinsicalness? Hell, the Grimm tales were barbaric before they became homogenized, sanitized, and finally Disneytized. 'Nurse Betty' presents a modern day fairy tale with the strike of reality always below it -- the strike of darkness and dissapointment. Fairy tales are an escape from this, but what if one creates her own fairy tale and chooses to believe in it over the drab reality she presides in?[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Neil LaBute, the director of the incessantly dark 'In the Company of Men' and 'Your Friends and Neighbors', collects together a whimsical modern day fable with a top-notch cast. Yes, to those fans of earlier LaBute offeriengs his name doesn't seem synonimous with whimiscal comedy - but in this flick LaBute cuts his teeth in the mainstream and earns his stripes if ever.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Little baby-voiced and rosy-cheeked Renee Zellweger plays our heroine in diner worker and soap opera fanatic Betty. Betty finds solace from her life featuring a sleazy spouse, played with marvelous flair by Aaron Eckhart, in her favorite soap opera. When her louch of a hubby isn't wiping his hands on the kitchen curtains or banging his secretary he tries proposing drug deals for shady characters. A recent drug peddling snafu sets him up to an ominous encounter with hitmen team Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock. Through a jarring scene of violence Betty's husband is left brutally murdered and the only witness is Betty herself. The event causes Betty to slip into a fractured psychological state where she believes the world of her soap opera is alive and real with herself a vital character. She hops in one of her dead hubby's used cars and drives off toward California to meet the doctor/soap star of her dreams in Greg Kinnear.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock mistake Betty for a criminal mastermind and believe her to have taken the drugs and run. They embark on their own mad dash to capture her and finish the job they were paid to complete. Along the way Betty encounters many people that are at first confused but ultimately charmed by this dilusional dame. Through a series of events she meets up with the eternally smarmy Kinnear and begins to learn what happens when a fantasy is corrupted by the dissapointment of reality. Allison Janney has a small part as a network executive that shines strong, and Crispen "McFly" Glovin is just nice to see in a film again. He doesn't seem to age though. Maybe he has that Dick Clark disease.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The flow of 'Betty' is well paced and a smart mix between drama, whimsy, and dark humor. Overlooking some sudden bursts of violence bookending the film it comes across as a sweet yet intelligent satire and fable. Betty is looking for her Prince Charming but will later laern that she doesn't need one, that she is the fairy tale happy ending inside her.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]The acting of 'Nurse Betty' is never in danger of flatlining. Zelwegger is a loveable and good natured heroine. Freeman is a strong and deceptively hilarious actor along side a caustic yet down-to-earth Rock. And I make an out going pondery if there is an actor alive out there that can do smarmy better than Kinnear -- I think not.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]'Nurse Betty' is a wonderful surprise. Check into your local theater, take one showing, and call me in the morning. You'll be glad you did.[/color][/font] [font=Arial][color=darkred]Nate's Grade: A- [/color][/font]
Sunil J

Just okay.
Sarah B

Dark, sick, heartwarming, screwed up and all with added innocent Renee Zellweger. Watch out for Crispin Glover. I love that Morgan Freeman falls for her. Greg Kinnear is fantastic. Taking a star off for Chris Rock though.
Marcus W

This film tries hard to be loved and it's by no means bad but apart from a standout performance by Zellweger, and her plot is the best part of the film, the subplots about stolen drugs and hitmen taking on their final job just feel tagged on to fill it out.
Laurence C

A double-edged black comedy that firmly refuses that be predictable, Nurse Betty is one of those movies that constantly flips back between somewhat entertaining and tediously boring for a mixed result. Zellweger succeeds in rendering her clueless character very likeable, and the rest… More
A double-edged black comedy that firmly refuses that be predictable, Nurse Betty is one of those movies that constantly flips back between somewhat entertaining and tediously boring for a mixed result. Zellweger succeeds in rendering her clueless character very likeable, and the rest of the cast, with the exception of a surprisingly bad Chris Rock, blend their wacky personalities well in the bittersweet context. A movie worth a rent for its shocking mood shifts, but don't expect anything extraordinary.
Donna D

Great comedy. Loved the lines that Morgan Freeman says about the Native Americans. I toast to him on that. Other than that, a true comedy.