Although Jennifer Aniston is one of the most recognized television and movie stars in the world, she is still trying to persuade people she can act.  That should not be necessary considering her wide range of parts since “Friends” concluded, and because she has always been a fine comedienne, able and willing to amusingly deprecate herself for any project.  But like so many other comediennes she aspires to prove that she can handle drama as well.  She certainly can.

Cake is a character study of Claire Bennett, a potty-mouthed woman with a very bad attitude, as well as some scars that hint at the reasons why.  Claire is addicted to pain medication, but she needs it because she is in chronic pain, having survived some sort of accident.  She is cared for by a Mexican woman, Silvana (Adrianna Barraza), but even Silvana is tiring of Claire’s constant sniping.

Every story needs a turning point, and this one finds Claire becoming obsessed with the suicide of a woman in the support group she reluctantly attends.  Claire would love to let herself go, but cannot, and needs to understand how someone else could do so — especially since Nina (Anna Kendrick) left behind a husband and child.

Daniel Barnz’s film follows Claire as she slowly moves to make human contact again with other people, finding unexpected friendship with Nina’s husband Roy (Sam Worthington) and boy Casey (Evan O’Toole).  The film really tries to avoid plotting clichés and easy explanations; Claire’s exact situation is never made crystal clear, but it doesn’t need to be.  Aniston is quite good as a bitter woman whose body has literally been shattered, yet I wouldn’t call her performance nuanced.  Perhaps the most notable aspect is that Claire never invites sympathy.

Cake is a well made movie about a type of character we rarely see in movies, anchored by a solid performance by Jennifer Aniston.  Other actresses might be as good or better, but other actresses probably would not have the clout to get such a movie made.  I’m not surprised that Aniston failed to get her Oscar nod, but I am a little surprised that Adrianna Barraza was overlooked — I thought she was absolutely terrific.  Cake isn’t quite as good as the best movies of the year, yet it is certainly worth seeing.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  29 January 2015.