Boring

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

In The Cake Eaters we have essentially three stories swirling about, involving two families in a sleepy upstate New York town. The Kimbrough family, which just suffered the loss of its matriarch, is involved in all three, with dad Easy (Bruce Dern) trying to culminate a long-term affair with grandma Kaminski (Elizabeth Ashley), son Guy just returned home to try to put his life together, and youngest son Beagle being introduced to sex by Ashley's granddaughter Georgia Kaminski (Kristen Stewart), a pretty young girl who suffers from a terminal muscular disease.First-time director Mary Stuart Masterson shows a real flare for allowing her story to be related by the characters. She can show a wealth of revelations in brief scenes with no dialog - she allows the camera and the players to tell the tale. Masterson may become a recognized director if she continues along these lines.It is no surprise that Dern and Ashley can act. All supporting cast members are actually first rate. But the real shocker here is Kristen Stewart as the afflicted Georgia, pressing to achieve experiences, including sexual experience, while she can. This actress is no Hollywood cupcake! This is, in my humble opinion, an Oscar-worthy performance. And, given the Academy's predilection for roles featuring challenged characters (ala Rain Man, Ray, My Left foot, etc.), it is a wonder that this great acting job went unnoticed. However, the delayed release of this Indy picture may have foiled that. Thumbs way, way up for Kristen Stewart.The only reason I did not give the entire ten stars is that at 87 minutes, I think Masterson could have padded out the ending a bit longer; I did not want it to end. Recommended!

The Cake Eaters is a cleverly-titled independent drama from 2007. Directed by Fried Green Tomatoes actress Mary Masterson, the film spent two years in purgatory before finding a distributor. It was released in 2009, presumably to accompany Kristen Stewart's ascent to stardom.It's unfortunate that we had to wait to so long. The film is an excellent evaluation of Stewart's success when picked for correct roles. Her off camera shenanigans have pointed to a tomboyish personality that Twilight's conservatism forces her to mask. I read a post on IMDb's page for New Moon in which one poster laments "Kristen doesn't portray Bella as wanting to be protected enough". I hate to argue in favor of that point, but alas, I will. The sexist gender role of Meyer's books is something Stewart isn't capable of doing successfully. All the films would be better if she were the one protecting Edward or if another person were Bella.We don't quite get that kind of tailored movie here, but it's a good example of either a director noticing someone's talent or just sheer luck. For the first time, we see Stewart take the active role in a romantic film. Her character, Georgia, is a teenager with a nerve disorder that slurs her speech and causes her to limp. She has lingering anxiety about her virginity. Life would be so much easier if she could find a boy or man for that special deflowering service.She finds a candidate while at a flea market with her mother. He's a milquetoast late twenty-something guy who happens to be her neighbor. The lad is so loyal to his family that he's earned the nickname "Beagle". He qualifies for her because he lives nearby and isn't unattractive. He even works as a cafeteria server at her high school and his father is having an affair with her grandmother.The film has a refreshingly objective view of adolescent sexuality. Beagle is violating social law by eventually sleeping with an underage girl, yet, she is the one who encourages him. She is probably at least five years younger than he yet more emotionally mature. She's willing to cut her hair and wear a sexy outfit to seduce him. He does not have to like her and maybe he doesn't. The next boy will have to do that. He is at first reluctant to indulge in the best of life's pleasures, but thankfully he does.Beagle's father has visited another woman for most of his married life and could not reconcile his shame to be with his wife while she was dying. He now sits back and watches his son do something unethical, unlawful, and moral. Neither he nor his partner has the authority to stop the relationship. Georgia's mother tries to, fails, and the elderly watch history repeat itself as their brood romance in the same motel their ancestors did so many years ago. The two young people wake up and go to school the next day. Do they love each other? I'm not able to answer. Each got what he or she wanted from the other and brought redemptive justice to his or her older relative. And the reviewer who observed the film enjoyed it. He got to see a frank film about a subject so whitewashed in traditional romantic cinema or the films of his contemporary actresses.Recommend

Kristen Stewart is now a star. It's really a shame. She could once do interesting work, as in this film and 'Adventureland'. However she will be forever known as the sulky starlet from the Terrible Tale of Taut, Teethy, Toddlers in the Twilight Teeniverse. Stephanie Meyer has a lot to answer for.Mary Stuart Masterson makes her debut here as director, yet is better known as the cool tomboy drummer, Watts from 'Some Kind of Wonderful'. She also starred opposite Sean Penn in 'At Close Range' and with Johnny Depp in 'Benny and Joon'. Here, her approach is more subtle. She doesn't overcompensate with her low budget, she settles on steady shots allowing the characters to reveal the story. It's a rural life, but all is not calm. Easy (Bruce Dern) lives with his two grown sons, one of whom has just returned after three years away, missing his mother's sickness and funeral. There are a few issues to sort out. Meanwhile, school girl Georgie (Kristen Stewart) is struggling under her dominating mother. As if her terminal illness isn't bad enough. She simply want to experience a normal life while she can. In short, she wants to lose her virginity. Can cafeteria worker Beagle, who is Easy's son, fill the void?There is more here than meets the eye. The relationships are complicated and sometimes not everything can worked out. We all must compromise and yet some people can't see past themselves. Everyone has needs, from the young to the old and we're just struggling to be accepted, preferably by someone we connect with.It feels like a novel and yet the script was written by Jayce Bartok, who plays Easy's eldest son Guy. Its a competent piece of work. It's not a film that will wrench your emotions from your gut, but as time wears on, you invest more into the characters and find yourself wanting even more. Sometimes it feels as though scenes are missing. In fact the German Film Market version was supposed to run 100 minutes. Here's its under 85. It was enough, but a few extra scenes more might have fleshed it out and made it a more complete experience.Nevertheless, wonderful performances, especially by the excellent Bruce Dern (Big Love, Silent Running) and TV & Stage star, Elizabeth Ashley and a nice beginning for Mary Stuart Masterson, who I hope continues on her directorial drive. It's more deserving than a Kristen Stewart curio, but if it gets people to it, then let them eat cake.

In a small town in the countryside, Georgia Kaminski (Kristen Stewart) is a fifteen year-old girl with Friedreich's ataxia, a genetic disease that causes progressive damage to the nervous system resulting in clumsy movements, speech problems heading to heart disease. While in a flea market selling goods with her grandmother Marg (Elizabeth Ashley), Georgia meets the shy twenty-years old Beagle Kimbrough (Aaron Stanford), who works in the cafeteria of her school and is the son of the local butcher Easy (Bruce Dern). Beagle spent the last years taking care of his ill mother while Easy and Marg have secretly been lovers for many years. Georgia feels that she will have few years of life and decides to lose her virginity with the sensitive Beagle. Meanwhile, Easy's older son Guy (Jayce Bartok) returns from New York for the funeral of his mother and seeks out the hairdresser Stephanie (Miriam Shor), who was his fiancée that he left behind when he moved to New York chasing the dream of becoming a successful musician. During the reunion, the lives of members of both families experience new discoveries and feelings.The debut of the sweet Mary Stewart Masterson in the direction of a feature is a beautiful and sensitive movie about families' relationship. The three romances are realistic and engaging and the characters are human and credible. The top-notch and impressive performance of Kristen Stewart in the role of a teenager with Friedreich's ataxia deserved a nomination to the Oscar. Kristen Stewart proves that she is not only an extremely gorgeous woman, but mainly a awesome actress. My vote is eight.Title (Brazil): "Doces Encontros" ("Sweet Encounters")