It would have been great if they just would have focused on the Chronic Pain situation.....

instead since it was Hollywood they had to throw in 9 other seriously, seriously major things besides her CP that she had to deal with each and every second of every day.

They took what could have been a good raw movie about Chronic Pain and shoved so much crap into it that they made it completely unbelievable.....because no human could've dealt with all that.

I did think that Jennifer Aniston did an awesome job, she stripped herself down to the raw center to do this movie, and she did it well....they just put too much in.

I agree completely with what OldCPer said, so rather than go on and on I'll just say a big "Ditto". Thanks for posting about this Vicki.

Hugs & God Bless
Lisa

Thanks for the replies. Im glad that i wasnt the only one who felt that way. I think they really could have shown what it was like to be us. I am so bummed that we lost a chance to have our voices heard and our stories told.
I would like to write someone involved in the making of the movie , but I have no idea who.
Jennifer did a great job and would have done a great job with a different storyline. Maybe more than one lead character with chronic pain?? What about those of us who the Dr.'s say we should nt be hurting like we say we are. We havent been in a major accident or have a horrible disease that is tearing our bodies apart. Although those are plenty tragic and very real, its very frustrating to hear you have Fibromyalgia or its all in your head.
I wont keep going on and on. Thank you for those who have replied and I hope more share their thoughts as well.
Vicki

I have a severe condition in my leg and some doctors still think I'm faking my pain. There was a poster on here not too long ago who has severe back problems as evidenced with an MRI Of the spine. The doctor balked at this person saying "I've seen worse!" Don't think for a second that people with subjective diseases like Fibromyalgia are the only ones who are accused of lying about their pain. I too wish they would have done a better job on this movie, but what do you expect from Hollywood. If they showed how half of us live all laid up every day, the movie would have been too boring to sell to the public. On the other hand, now it makes us all like addicts.

I found two scenes in the movie that expressed how I feel.
The movie was an indie. Not meant to be big box office. I gave it
2** and later when I looked at reviews it was reviewed 2**.

Jennifer Anniston nailed it considering the script she had to work
with. Was it a black comedy? I didn't want to believe it because pain isn't funny but they kept inserting these dry humor parts.

If you count the ghost there were two in pain. I would have loved to see support group at the beginning of the movie continue.

I am curious if anyone who watched the movie was triggered or was touched by any of the movie? I did see the lack of compassion from the doctor she saw and the pool therapist. Both would have know what she had been through.

Do you think your doctor sees you? Once when I was in bad pain my primary care doctor had tears in her eyes as I was talking. Times have changed though. I think doctors avoid eye contact to avoid seeing our pain. Her doctor just kept flipping through files and didn't look at her.
In the movie she put on a smile and acted cool and calm and the mention of favor got her scripts? She didn't want to appear needy. Do we play the game?

How about physical therapy and the therapist is pushing you to do something that causes you more pain than you already have?
Ever had that happen? They think you don't want to get better when in truth you know your body and when you say it is causing more pain it is. Yet their evaluation can go against you.

I was triggered towards the end when she was at drive in after she had detoxed and the ghost asked what it felt like to be in pain without relief.

Personally I would expect to see a truer picture of chronic pain on a documentary. I don't expect to see a movie portray that. As someone said anyone who doesn't have it would most likely not be interested in the movie. People watch documentaries to learn. Not for entertainment.

love and peace
hippy

@Hippy

Interesting....

I thought the Personal Trainer was one of the characters that was played the most realistic, tough and keeping her doing what needed to be done. PT's often have to deal with patients that want to give up after a few sessions, and they have to be strong enough and a little "mean" enough to make them keep going.

The Dr. I thought was totally ridiculous, she was conned into giving out narcotic scripts so quickly, just by a little personal "make believe" conversation, it was silly.

I thought they made the ghost girl a little too "bitchy and accusatory" at times, that got kind of weird.

I agree though, Aniston did a wonderful job, there just needed to be less crammed into that script so it could be more believable. Everyone was confused why she didn't get an Oscar for it....and I think that was the reason, it was just too much.

I did love the "Housekeeper" role, she actually anchored the whole show and made it somewhat realistic.

@Jeremy:

I don't think it convinced the world that anyone with CP is a drug addict. The movie wasn't believable enough to have that big of an impact.

Instead of playing her as a Chronic Pain patient being shunned by Doctors and making tough moral choices of how to get her meds.

From the beginning they played her as a drug addict who didn't even try to do things the right way, who got drugs from gullible "clinic" doctors.

You all make some really good points.

I really liked the housekeeper. She was an enabler , but at the same time she gave unconditoinal love. Isnt that what we all need.
The housekeeper had such compassion. I think that was one of the main reasons she started to get better and try harder.

Physical Therapy doesnt always work. I didnt like the therapist at all. Maybe she could have started slower working on her pool therapy and would have gotten better results.

Also, I agree that it would have been nice to see how the pain group went on without her. But the leader sounded like a flake.

Great ideas guys, I hope we get more comments.
I hope everyone is doing as good as possible today.
Vicki

Hi
I am brand new to this site and actually the movie Cake is the reason I went online looking for some sort of support.
for me, watching the movie was like looking into a mirror , the way Jennifer's character had just given up and tried to shut out the world is exactly how I have been dealing with my pain. (not out buying illegal drugs or anything, but I can see how a person could get to that point)
it made me realize that I needed to do something different... find some positive support...so here I am!

Hi Superstar,
I am glad you found this group. Check online to see if there are Chronic Pain groups in your area. Some will be good and others are just a waste of time.
Giving up , at least for a while is what a lot of us do. Either we dont find support from our families or Dr.'s. Its very frustrating. We are very misunderstood. Its hard to know the daily pain we all feel unless you are in it. It wears you down.
I am mostly a looker in this group. I have been here since 2007. But there are a lot of very caring people here and you will find lots of support.
Im so glad you have found this group. Its a great step. So, at least the movie helped you get here. I am encouraged by that.
Hang in there. You are not alone. We care about you. Even those of us that mostly read the posts and dont post often.
Read the posts and when you are comfortable , share.
Im glad you are here.
Wishing you comfort and sending hugs.
Vicki

Ghost girl important part sharing question from group
Group "what would you like to do if you didn't have chronic pain"
She, ghost girl wanted to bake her daughter a birthday cake from scratch.

Again what does chronic pain keep us from?

hippy

@funtome:

That was the other thing about the movie that irked me, they never showed her going through the rigorous Dr. visiting that some of us have to do. She went to the 1 Clinic and very easily conned 2 pretty heavy narcotic scripts out of the dingbat blonde Doc. It was one of the things that took the realism out of it....probably more for those of us who have to do it as opposed to Normies who don't.

I see 2 specialists, my PCP, and my Pdoc (psychiatrist) every month, and then an additional 3 Specialists every 3 months. Luckily I have awesome Dr.'s and get along well with all of them...but for many people these are torturous and often long journeys to bigger cities, etc.

They left this very real part out of the movie.

I guess I am a little bit lucky on that one, my orthopedic was the doctor on call at the hospital the night of my accident and I still see him for my injuries so he knows 100% what my injuries were/are and that I still need my medications.
however, other doctors are always questioning it.. they look at the list and want to know what its for and can we take some away. Partially due to other side effects but I try to explain to them I still have constant pain even with the medicines .. can't imagine if they took them away.
I agree though, I can't imagine any doc that I have ever been too giving away those scripts so easily!

Is the movie worth seeing? I love Jennifer Aniston and the story line of this movie intrigued me but I haven't taken the time to see it. I followed the post and I guess I still don't know if I should watch it or not, lol.

On another note, I was perusing the net and was somewhat surprised by the lack of chronic pain documentaries there are. There are some but I was disappointed in the quality and overall topics discussed.

Red you are right on documentaries.
The movie I guess it depends on the day you
are having and what you are looking for.
As all agree Jennifer Anniston is good.

I think the movie is more about PTSD and
where it takes you. It could be about chronic pain
that eats you up and spits you out and you just happen
to have one compassionate person like the housekeeper
In your life.

The movie is what you want it to be. You have to go in to it
with no expectations. The writer is not writing a script for chronic
pain. Jennifer Anniston is playing a tormented human being and we
are left to decide why.

Red I am still thinking about those documentaries and that really depresses me. I once heard a doctor say a script said doc had prescribed to me was what would be prescribed to a cancer patient.
My point is I wonder if the medical field wants to talk about chronic pain.

hippy

I think I might watch it...but thanks for suggesting not to have any expectations going in.

I was very enlightened today on the world of pain management by my new pain psychologist. It was an incredibly (for lack of a better term), interesting appointment. I was left with very raw emotions but not necessarily in a bad way. I was given validation in a way I've never gotten before and it was overwhelming. I left with a new appreciation of myself and what I've gone through. Those 90 minutes are still very strong with me and I'm not sure how to express it. I sat down with my personal journal here at home and can only hover the pen over the paper...there's so much to say that I cannot begin to say it.

Maybe today isn't a good day to watch this movie but I sure would like to see it.