LaBute's approach could have been more scathing, but, in a surprising show of restraint (surprising considering how uncompromising his previous films were),he avoids the contempt of characters that is frequently demanded for a vicious parody. Instead, he opts for more character identification and a higher dramatic quotient.

 

He wants us to like and understand these individuals, especially Betty. This leads to fewer laughs than one might expect from something being loosely identified as a comedy, but a better overall balance.Soap opera fans, always an easy target, are treated almost kindly (although the screenplay calls them "people with no lives [who] watch other people's fake lives"). And the pseudo-soap clips have the right mix of slight overacting and melodrama to make them believable.

 

From what we see of A Reason To Love, it would be perfectly at home on any of the TV networks' afternoon schedules. However, the primary target of LaBute's satirical saber, the artificiality of Hollywood, is repeatedly skewered. Nurse Betty argues that the people in the entertainment business are so self-absorbed that they can't tell the difference between an overzealous would-be star and a mentally disturbed individual.

 

Nurse Betty offers Renée Zellweger an opportunity to shine like she hasn't since she announced herself to the world as Tom Cruise's love interest in Jerry Maguire. The role is perfect for her and plays to her strengths (unlike that in the recent Me,Myself & Irene, where she was little more than a foil for Jim Carrey). As Betty, Zellweger is charming, perky, and entirely sympathetic.

 

There are times(mostly on occasions when the script loses its tenuous connection with reality when she holds things together by sheer force of personality, and she's capable of playing both the dramatic and comic scenes with equal aptitude. The part may not have been written specifically for her, but it's impossible seeing anyone else in it.