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.
Although everyone involved is likable, especially Zellweger, the elements don't mesh.
– John Anderson,
Newsday,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
LaBute didn't write Nurse Betty, but his fierce comic touch is, luckily, all over this movie.
– Peter Travers,
Rolling Stone,
10 May 2001
rotten:
Almost every emotion and action on view is presented as false, idiotic or superficial.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
26 Jan 2006
fresh:
In his third, most accomplished film, LaBute puts aside the inquiry of misogyny that dominated his previous work and immerses himself in a lighter romantic fable about the collision of fantasy and reality, with a terrific performance from Renee Zelwegger
– Emanuel Levy,
Variety,
23 Jul 2006
fresh:
The actors hold the movie together, particularly Ms. Zellweger and Mr. Freeman, whose characters achieve a remarkable intimacy in a most unlikely situation.