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Nurse Betty
USA Films


6.5

based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 8 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for strong violence, pervasive language and a scene of sexuality

Starring Renée Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock, and Greg Kinnear

A film about a widow's (Zellweger) post-traumatic obsession with a soap star doctor (Kinnear).

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	John C. Richards (also story) James Flamberg
DIRECTED BY:	Neil LaBute
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: April 3, 2001 Video: February 27, 2001 Theatrical: September 8, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	112 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Germany/ USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The superb screenplay won an award at Cannes this year for good reason.

100

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

A wonderfully twisted comedy.

100

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

As ever, Freeman delivers miracles; he's as good as it gets.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

He (LaBute) pulls the farce and the violence and the fantasies together with a deft touch and a sweetness rare in American films -- especially his.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

It is easily the finest American comedy since David O. Russell's "Flirting With Disaster," another road movie that never ran out of poignantly funny surprises.

Variety Emanuel Levy

Few actresses can convey the kind of honesty and humanity that Zellweger does here -- it's hard to imagine the film without her dominant, thoroughly credible performance.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

This offbeat and unpredictable comedy-thriller throws so many curveballs, one right after another, that I doubt I've had more fun at an American movie this year.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

There's a shrewd satiric method to LaBute's madness, and a payoff in comedic gold.

Time Richard Schickel

All in all, Nurse Betty is a wonderful movie, unpredictably alive to the fact that the American citizenry is a lot stranger than we like to admit.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

The movie has a deliberately screw-loose feel.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

It's lively, edgy, full of zigs and zags, juicy performances, and offbeat fun.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Betty moves into Coen Brothers territory, a land so unreal that horrific behavior wrings laughter from a disbelieving audience.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It's a nicely tart gulp of grown-up wit and cynicism -- with, for a change, a cherry on top.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

The resulting piece resonates upon the American condition, deliciously detailing the whimsy, violence, intolerance, and shallow fantasies that fuel this nation. Oh yeah, and it's funny.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

This delightful and compassionate romp achieves precisely that rare quality -- grace -- that sets Betty apart from the pack.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Nurse Betty is this year's "Being John Malkovich"-an utter original with a little something to say and a way of saying it that manages to be at once delightful and bilious.

San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris

Groovy.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

One of those films where you don't know whether to laugh or cringe, and find yourself doing both. It's a challenge: How do we respond to this loaded material?

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

This oddly cheerful, decreasingly dark comedy actually works and can boast some of the most enjoyable performances of the year.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

A black comedy that features Renee Zellweger as the most adorable psychiatric-trauma victim ever.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

Observing Zellweger as she dispenses her brand of movie magic definitely is good for what ails you.

TNT RoughCut Andy Klein

Worth watching.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Betty sustains her character, the movie fails to maintain its own.

Slate David Edelstein

A feminist sitcom tricked up with garish violence and garrulous hit men.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

Badly photographed, clumsily edited, and lacking any discernable cinematic style.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Uncomfortable hodgepodge of poignant fantasy, showbiz satire and crime thriller.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Its warped, disconnected sensibility makes for an oddly distant piece of work.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Zellweger is as charming as ever, and it's good to find LaBute working with a script by writers who don't fully share his crabbed, cramped view of human nature.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

It feels like three movies stitched together.

Newsweek David Ansen

There are inspired moments in this edgy, unstable comedy.

Austin Chronicle Sarah Hepola

Its uneven comedy may leave moviegoers yearning for the confidently choreographed banter and moral sludge that marked LaBute's previous outings.

Film.com Robert Horton

This fantasy-tinged romance leaves a distinctly bitter aftertaste.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

LaBute is some kind of find: an auteur for people who don't like movies.

Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday

Aimless and unfocused.

The average user rating for this movie is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Mitch H. gave it an 8:
This a a very funny movie. Renee Zellweger performance is great. One of the best actress we have now. It's a great movie with great actors and screenplay thats different a refreshing.

Gilbert gave it an 8:
I don't know that we needed to actually SEE Chris Rock... [Spoiler Deleted]. And it is aimless and unfocused. But. It's also funny, touching and oddly compelling, and it's got good performances from Zellweger, Freeman and Rock. Plus, Alison "5'11 My Jim Royle" Janney is in it. So it can't be bad.

Tom S. gave it a 4:
Very good actors and acting. The three leads, Zwellig, Kinnear, and Freeman, were perfect. Funny moments. But a racial element left an impression of obliviousness. There were only two black people in the film, and they both were killed in the end. Something wrong here.

Phillip W. gave it a 2:
I thought this movie was terrible. A "dark comedy" that just wasn't funny. I love all the actors, but despised the roles they played. There were no characters in the movie I liked or was interested in.

Chris M. gave it a 10:
It's a thin, thin line between soap opera and real life. Morgan Freeman somehow finds something new in the familiar character of The Hit Man. Ms. Zellweger is extraordinary playing a character more complex than in most dramas you see. Nurse Betty is a special film.

Jacques R. gave it a 10:
I just couldn't stop smiling during this movie. Aaron Eckhart was terrific, and Greg Kinnear, someone I usually love to hate, was superb in his role, which also could have been paper thin if played by any other actors.

Nurse Betty USA Films

Nurse Betty
USA Films