The Cake Eaters (2007)

So apparently now that Kristen Stewart is famous or whatever, a little-known movie she made a few years ago is suddenly getting more recognition. I didn't realize this, as I only wanted to see it because Mary Stuart Masterson directed it (you know, from Some Kind of Wonderful? Benny and Joon? Chances Are? Bad Girls?). Anyway, one of the like 3 theaters it's playing in happened to be Somerville Theatre the weekend before I left for Germany.

The story focuses on two interconnected families in a rural town and their various relationships. The shy, 20-something school cafeteria worker Beagle (Aaron Stanford) still lives at home with his recently-widowed father, Easy (Bruce Dern). His estranged brother Guy (Jayce Bartok, also the scriptwriter), who'd been working in NYC as a musician, comes home for the first time in several years after learning of his mother's death. Naturally this promotes conflict between the brothers, as well as between Guy and his former girlfriend, Stephanie (Miriam Shor). Meanwhile, Beagle hesitantly romances/is romanced by Georgia (Kristen Stewart), a teenager suffering from Friedreich's ataxia, a terminal degenerative nerve disease that inhibits her movements and speech abilities.

Her mother Violet (Talia Balsam) is a photographer, and she often uses Georgia as a model to promote awareness of the disease (though some townspeople feel it's exploitative and/or pornographic). Her grandmother Marg (Elizabeth Ashley) is her closest friend, and has also been conducting an affair with Easy for several years. Everyone is pretty upset about Beagle and Georgia dating (especially with her serious desire to lose her virginity while she still can), but they might be more upset when they find out about Easy and Marg's ongoing secret relationship.

Um I thought this movie was ok. It had some funny moments and some good characters (I liked the grandma a lot). Some of the acting wasn't so good, unfortunately- mostly Jayce Bartok. Despite having a super badass name, he was not meant to be an actor. I liked Aaron Stanford. Kristen Stewart was alright; I hadn't seen her in anything before so I didn't really have any expectations. The role was definitely a challenge physically, which she handled very well, but I didn't see anything special otherwise. She's sort of annoying, really, but maybe that was just the character. Or the awful, awful wig they gave her halfway through.

Storywise, The Cake Eaters was average. It was slow but engaging, with a good mix of drama and comedy and nothing veering too far into either category. The estranged-artistic-family-member-coming-home-and-causing-problems cliche didn't bother me too much, because it really wasn't the focus of the film. It's more about the relationships between Georgia and Beagle, and Beagle and his family. The terminal disease theme was a little overdone, but it might just have felt that way because it's fairly common in modern movies. I didn't know anything about Friedreich's ataxia before this, so it was interesting to see its effects on someone so young and her concerned family. I think this film was a little too meandering and unsure of itself- I feel like it wanted to make some sort of statement, but fell short. It just didn't do much for me. With better actors and more involved character development, it'd be improved. I'm still looking forward to Mary Stuart Masterson's next directing stint, though.

2.5/5