"Nurse Betty": Just what the doctor ordered

by EVAN BEVINS
managing editor

"Nurse Betty" is the story of a kind young woman trying to find her place in the world after the murder of her adulterous husband. She barely had a direction before he died; without his oppressive presence she does not know what to do with herself.

Of course, this is all buried beneath the fact that she witnessed her husband's murder, had a mental breakdown and made tracks to L.A. in order to meet up with her one true love: Dr. David Ravell, the main character on her favorite soap opera, "A Reason to Love."

Oh yeah, and the guys who killed her husband are after her too.

Got all that?

"Nurse Betty" is a delerious mix of comedy and drama, a genre-defying screwball adventure that dares you to classify it.

Renee Zellwegger ("Jerry Maguire," "Me, Myself and Irene") plays Betty and plays her so sweetly that anyone in the audience would want to lay into her jerk of a husband for the way he treats her.

Before anyone gets the chance though, he is brutally (and I do mean brutally) murdered by a pair of hit men (Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock). The duo sets out after Betty when they cannot find the drugs her husband stole from their employer.

Betty, meanwhile, has created her own fantasy world as a means of dealing with what she has seen. Her bubble is in danger of bursting when she meets the actor (Greg Kinnear) who plays the object of her affections.

As ridiculous as her psychosis is, Zellwegger is so sincere, so absolutely lovable, that you not only don't mind the stranger plot twists of the film, you almost want to believe her dream is reality, just so she won't be hurt again.

Meanwhile, Freeman and Rock pull off scene after riotous scene together. The serious Freeman loosens up enough to keep up with Rock's punchline, while Rock manages to give his character depth that keeps him from dropping off into pure comic relief.

You would have to be as crazy as Betty to buy into this plot for a second.

But the cast is so good, you don't need to buy it. You just need to sit back and enjoy the ride.