The Cake Eaters
Cake eater: someone of upper-class background, or who has been excessively well off, often used in connection with the proverb “You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
Strangely enough, there isn’t a scene of cake in the entire film but thankfully the metaphor suffices just fine.
The Cake Eaters is a story of love and loss intertwined with the follies of terminal illness and hidden affairs. I could give the plot a ‘C’ but thankfully there is more to this simple layer than just a few hiccups here and there.
Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays Georgia, a 15-year-old girl whose cake eater parents have used her disability (debilitating neurological disorder) as a means of keeping her locked up and away from a normal life. Aaron Stanford (X-Men 3, The Hills Have Eyes) plays Beagle, a twenty-something loner working in Georgia’s high school cafeteria trying to decide whether the jailbait is worth the risk or whether he’d be better off flipping fries.
Although the concept seems to be pushing the envelope here, it never really develops as much as it could. The viewer never really gets into the mindset of either character as their relationship is stuck mostly to just a physical rendezvous. The large age gap is nearly overlooked, which creates for constant scrutiny on my behalf for the lack of reality presented in this kind of situation.
Unfortunately for her, the Twilight stint may have singled her out to the 14-year-old tween demographic but I can safely say this is in no way Twilight part II. Even if half her scenes utilize that patented confused look of hers, I can still appreciate her attempt to take on a harder role such as this.
Likewise, Mary Stuart Masterson has made the transition from TV actress to first-time director in a bold and daring way. Thankfully, Masterson added in more conflict than just the youngin’s relationship, trying to capture the age-old tale of the father-and-son fallout and then the rebuilding of the relationship after the death of a loved one. It’s been done before but that isn’t to say it can’t be done right.
Although the film will hit-and-miss with the Edward Cullen vamps, it has a deeper meaning that is more than just breaking the skin. The Cake Eaters has won various awards at film festivals and is currently out on DVD.
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