SHE’S CHASING A DREAM… THEY’RE CHASING HER.
When she sees her boyfriend (Aaron Eckhart) get shot by two hitmen (Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock), small-town waitress Betty Sizemore (Renée Zellweger) enters a state of mind where she believes her favorite character on a TV soap is real… One of Neil LaBute’s most lauded films is this drama-comedy where we follow Betty’s quest to find ”the doctor” who’s the love of her life, and the hitmen who need to get rid of this witness to what they did. Freeman and Rock are amusing as a very odd couple of killers, and Greg Kinnear is a perfect choice as the soap actor, but this is above all Zellweger’s film. She’s funny and touching as poor Betty, the center of a good story with plenty of tension and warmth.
2000-U.S. 109 min. Color. Widescreen. Produced by Steve Golin, Gail Mutrux. Directed by Neil LaBute. Screenplay: John C. Richards, James Flamberg. Music: Rolfe Kent. Cast: Morgan Freeman (Charlie), Renée Zellweger (Betty Sizemore), Chris Rock (Wesley), Greg Kinnear (George McCord), Aaron Eckhart, Tia Texada… Crispin Glover, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Allison Janney.
Golden Globe: Best Actress (Zellweger). Cannes: Best Screenplay.
Last word: “They were all good people. ReneĂ© I went after in a big way, because I thought we had to have someone who seems to be very sweet and nice, which she really is in reality. Morgan and Chris were actually someone else’s idea. That was the part of the script I was a little leery of at first. I mean, hitmen, we’ve seen a lot of hitmen in movies the past few years. I didn’t quite know how to make that fresh until someone suggested the two of them. Then I thought, okay, that’s a group I haven’t seen before, in terms of two black hitmen. I thought that was clever.” (LaBute, The Hollywood Interview)
