Nurse Betty

"She's chasing a dream... they're chasing her."

2000 1h 48m EN

😐

6.1

MID

★6.1TMDB · 442

ComedyCrimeThrillerDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

What happens when a person decides that life is merely a state of mind? If you're Betty, a small-town waitress and soap opera fan from Fair Oaks, Kansas, you refuse to believe that you can't be with the love of your life just because he doesn't really exist. After all, life is no excuse for not living. Traumatized by a savage event, Betty enters into a fugue state that allows -- even encourages -- her to keep functioning... in a kind of alternate reality.

“She's chasing a dream... they're chasing her.”

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Cast

Morgan Freeman
Charlie
Renée Zellweger
Betty
Chris Rock
Wesley
Greg Kinnear
Dr. David Ravell
Aaron Eckhart
Del
Tia Texada
Rosa
Crispin Glover
Roy
Pruitt Taylor Vince
Ballard

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Neil LaBute
Writers: John C. Richards, John C. Richards, James Flamberg
Languages: Spanish, English
Countries: Germany, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

26 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Neil LaBute, shot by Jean-Yves Escoffier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Rolfe Kent. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Joel Plotch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Morgan Freeman and Renée Zellweger and Chris Rock carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "She's chasing a dream... they're chasing her.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Neil LaBute directs. Jean-Yves Escoffier behind the camera. Rolfe Kent scores. Joel Plotch cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Germany, United States of America. Dialogue in Spanish, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

126 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, English.
3International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.
4Directed by Neil LaBute, shot by Jean-Yves Escoffier. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Rolfe Kent. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Joel Plotch shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Morgan Freeman and Renée Zellweger and Chris Rock carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "She's chasing a dream... they're chasing her.".
9IMDB entry: tt0171580 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "bartender", "native american", "writer", "used car dealer".
11Released under 10 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jean-Yves Escoffier
Original score: Rolfe Kent
Editing: Joel Plotch
Production design: Charles William Breen
Costume design: Lynette Meyer
Makeup / hair: Scott Julion
Sound: Lance Brown
Stunt coordinator: Charlie Brewer
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $24,000,000
Box office: $29,364,989
Return: 122% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Nurse Betty (2000)

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Neil LaBute

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2023-12-06
★ 6/10
Oddball dramedy about two people in love with their unreal fantasies A small town waitress in Kansas (Renée Zellweger) is married to a jerk car salesman, but enjoys a soap opera in which she fantasies about the hero-doctor on the show (Greg Kinnear). Meanwhile a criminal duo (Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock) chases the woman to Los Angeles whereupon the leader seems to develop a thing for her. "Nurse Betty" (2000) is part dramedy, part road movie, part crime drama, part romcom and part black comedy. While it's rarely laugh-out loud, it's pretty consistently amusing. What throws it off is that it's such an eccentric mixture viewers don't know how to take it, especially with a fairly radical scalping sequence (and I don't mean scalping tickets). It helps, though, when you grasp that the movie's about Betty and Charlie and their romantic idealism of people they've never met. At the end of the day this is an offbeat Tarantino-esque flick that's half-good and half-meh. The "meh" reaction is mostly due to its curiosities. Thankfully, it has depth and plays better on repeat viewings. The movie runs about one hour, 50 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles; Durango, Colorado; Grand Canyon, Arizona; and Rome, Italy (closing scene). GRADE: B-/C+

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