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Parents' Guide to

Nurse Betty

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Offbeat comedy has a few violent scenes.

Movie R 2000 110 minutes
Nurse Betty Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 15+

Based on 1 parent review

FosterFan
FosterFan Parent of baby-year-old
September 23, 2011
age 15+

Great film, not for children.

One of Renée Zellweger's most accomplished performances, elevates this comedy-thriller to unexpected heights. Extremely violent and sexual scenes are here, but Zellweger and Morgan Freeman give it a touch of humanity. The only weak element in this film is Chris Rock's character; he's insensitive, loud, rude and downright unpleasant (going so far as using the C word). But Betty is a model of a friendly, compassionate and beautiful human being.

This title has:

Great role models
Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

NURSE BETTY centers on Betty (Renee Zellweger), a sweet, trusting woman married to a boorish used car salesman (Aaron Eckhardt). She does not know that her husband has stolen some heroin and hid it in one of his cars. When he's killed by a hitman, Betty goes into what psychiatrists call a fugue state. She has no memory of seeing the crime. Instead, she thinks she has left her husband to find her former fiancé, a soap opera doctor. She sets off to find him, unaware she's driving the car where her husband stashed the heroin. The two hitmen, Charlie (Morgan Freeman) and Wesley (Chris Rock), follow her. In L.A., she gets a job in a hospital, and meets the actor who plays her dream man. Charlie, too, is chasing a dream, wanting to finish this one last job so he can retire but growing more and more drawn to the woman he is supposed to kill.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (1 ):

Zellweger's lips should be eligible for their own Oscar. As the waitress who is such a big fan of a soap opera that she becomes convinced she is a character on it, she does more to convey her essential sweetness and strength of character with her lips alone than most actresses could manage using a couple of bodies.

Betty's trip from Kansas to Los Angeles recalls the journey of that other famous Kansan, Dorothy. Both go to a fantasy land only to find that the answer is within themselves. As someone tells Betty, "Honey, you don't need anybody. You know why? Because you've got yourself." Both Betty and Charlie seek a dream that will let them leave their pasts behind.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how Betty learned that she could solve her own problems and follow her real dream of becoming a nurse. Betty's husband describes the soap opera fans as "people with no lives watching each other's fake lives." Is that true of anyone who watches any television show or movie, including the people who watch this one? Is there a difference between watching for escape and watching for entertainment or insight? Why would Betty stay with such an awful husband for so long? Were any other characters chasing dreams? Who?

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