The review of "Cake" by Peter Travers

In his review, professional film critic Peter Travers talks about Jennifer Aniston’s performance in the movie “Cake.” In the article published in the Rolling Stone on January 21^st, 2015, Travers says that Jennifer Aniston is more than just a pretty girl in a sitcom and argues that it was Aniston herself that made “Cake” the movie it is.

Travers claims that Aniston grasped the essence of her character, Claire Simmons, a divorced painkiller addict, and went beyond focusing only on the symptoms of her condition. According to Travers, the actress managed to portray Claire’s “bruised emotion” and wit. To prove that, he refers to two scenes: in the first one, Claire is in a support group where members talk about a young mother who committed suicide, to which Claire responds by saying that she was brave to do it. In another scene, Claire is in serious pain and asks her housekeeper to go to Mexico with her to get illegal drugs.

The article is written in a kind of formal style with Travers throwing in expressions such as “having the balls” here and there. However, it doesn’t lose its seriousness, and knowing that the addressed readers are the readers of Rolling Stone, the language is appropriate.

Travers starts his review by referring back to Aniston’s past in sitcoms and other parts she had in movies similar to Cake that were not recognized by critics. In the second paragraph, he provides background information on the movie and its director. The next three sections are synopsis, and the last paragraph evaluates Jennifer’s acting, saying that she did a great job playing the character of Claire Simmons.

The points that Travers makes all refer back to the main idea that Jennifer Aniston is more than just her usual girl-next-door role. His style of writing and structure of logic are appropriate, no irrelevant things are mentioned.

What I liked about this review is that the critic took one aspect that makes this movie worth watching, Aniston’s acting that is, and pursued the reader of her acting skills by taking scenes from the movie that show the character’s innermost emotions, thereby proving that Aniston is in fact a great actress.