The Cake Eaters
Rating 5/10
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Aaron Stanford, Bruce Dern, Jayce Bartok
Director: Mary Stuart Masterson
Kristen Stewart (sort of) sheds her Bella from Twilight image in this bittersweet story of love.
Set in small town America, Stewart plays Georgia, a teen with Freidreich's Ataxia, a progressive degenerative disease of the nervous system.
Georgia suffers with a slurred speech and a stuttering walk - but one day, while at a car boot sale, she meets Beagle (Aaron Stanford), the son of a local butcher. Beagle's family has been torn apart by their mother's death and his long errant brother has also just returned to town - to a wall of bitterness and anger at his absence during the family loss.
And that's really it for plot in this indie film, the directorial debut of actress Mary Stuart Masterson.
This quiet low key, character driven indie would probably have been consigned to TV movie status (and has sat on a shelf since 2007) were it not for Kristen Stewart and the Twilight mania. That said, while she does play a variation of the Bella character, Stewart shows what a talented actress she actually is.
She plays Georgia with a headstrong desire to live a life while she can - and she and Beagle pursue an uneasy relationship as those around them come to terms with life, love and loss.
There's nothing seriously wrong with The Cake Eaters - granted, it's a little predictable and clichéd and you can probably see what's coming a mile off. It's a Sunday afternoon film - but thanks to Stewart's superior and genuine performance, it is saved from the mire - given Stewart made this film before the ascendance of Bella, it shows she really does have the promise to make it long after the vampire franchise has been staked.
