Nurse Betty

The bittersweet comedy »Nurse Betty« holds a unique place in Neil LaBute’s body of work. It is one of the rare films he directed without writing the screenplay himself. Yet it fits perfectly into his oeuvre as a kind of hopeful counterpoint to his typically pitch-black explorations of the human condition. At the same time, the story — centered on a housewife and waitress (played by Renée Zellweger) who witnesses her husband’s murder by two hitmen and subsequently retreats into a fantasy world — offers him ample opportunity to portray toxic relationships. LaBute also benefits from the sarcastic humor with which screenwriters John C. Richards and James Flamberg depict the world of »A Reason to Love«, the fictional soap opera where Betty seeks happiness. He repeatedly interweaves scenes from »A Reason to Love« with images of people like Betty who identify with the characters on the TV screen. Naturally, they are exploited and deceived by the show’s producers. Yet there is a positively revolutionary power in Betty’s longing for a world where there truly is a reason to love.