Betty Sizemore (Renee Zellweger) is a waitress at a local diner. She spends every moment she can watching her favourite soap opera and swooning over the main character Dr. David Ravell (Greg Kinnear). Betty is married to a sleazy used car salesman called Del (Aaron Eckhart). Del has been involved in a deal with some very shady people, and now two hitmen, Charlie (Morgan Freeman) and his son Wesley (Chris Rock) have come to pay him a visit.

When Betty witnesses the brutal murder of Del at the hands of Charlie and Wesley she goes into complete shock. She then starts to imagine that Dr. Ravell is real and wants to be with her. She travels to LA in her shocked state to be with Dr. Ravell, not realising that he’s just an actor in a TV show.

When Charlie and Wesley find out that Betty witnessed the murder, they follow her to LA knowing that she needs to be silenced. However along the way Charlie begins to develop a fascination for Betty and slowly falls for her. Also on Betty’s tail are two friends from her home town, Ballard (Pruitt Taylor-Vince) and Roy Ostery (Crispin Glover), who are worried for Betty’s state of mind. Betty’s journey for love takes some startling and humorous turns, one I thoroughly enjoyed. She meets some brilliantly outlandish people, who all fall for Betty in their own way.

Directed by Neil LaBute this is a blackly funny movie. It is at times startlingly violent, but still has a mischievous streak running throughout it. Everyone is on top form here. Even Chris Rock who usually gets on my nerves, is good in his role as the unhinged Wesley. I can wholeheartedly recommend this movie. There are many that have never heard of it when I ask them, but they become fans in the end. It is definitely worth a watch.

4/5

JM