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I won’t beat around the bush, there are many times in which a movie may seem plotless to a lot, but seem full of it to myself. Enter, The Cake Eaters. It is a movie that throws the audience directly into the lives of two families, each facing their own difficulties that have come together in a few different ways. The Cake Eaters is another example of a small, independent film that should receive more spotlight than it does, yet at the same time it doesn’t hit indie gold and has its own flaws.

The story centers on two families, the Kimbrough’s, Easy (Bruce Dern) and Beagle (Aaron Stanford), have suffered the loss of Easy’s wife and the Kaminski’s, whose daughter, Georgia (Kristen Stewart), is terminally ill. Unbeknownst to Beagle, Easy has been cheating with Georgia’s grandmother for years while Beagle and Georgia become somewhat of a comfort to one another.

Those who need an absolute set plot probably won’t care for The Cake Eaters as the story does nothing more than build on its foundation of relationships. I, for one, enjoyed the normalcy of the story and situation immensely. The Cake Eaters is a perfect example of a movie that benefits off of throwing the viewer into a couple random days of the characters life and being able to observe them in their usual acts; of course, it’s more of a treat when the growth of characters is added, but the bottom line is that it’s easy to jump right into the storyline. As far as being down put for its lack of plot, The Cake Eaters puts it in the viewer’s hands to capture the story of it all and it’s not very complicated to catch on to the fact that it’s the characters, their relations, their grief and their actions that create the plot.

Although the storyline might not have been for everyone, no one can deny that the actors and actresses put everything they had into the film. Aaron Stanford, Bruce Dern and Elizabeth Ashley played their parts extremely well, especially Dern and Ashley whose onscreen chemistry was beautiful. However, Kristen Stewart stole the show as the terminally ill Georgia. Her attempts to accomplish normalcy in the face of tragedy is well done, yet can’t come close to matching her physical acting which included slurring her speech and appearing uncoordinated. It seems as though Kristen Stewart thrives when playing the difficult role as this performance can only be comparable to her own in “Speak.” Combined, Stewart’s acting truly creates a feeling of strength and a perfect portrayal of longingness to experience life before it’s too late.

The film didn’t go without its flaws though. At times, the film tries to reinforce its “indieness” with small, meaningless things such as Beagle’s love for painting and the entire character of Guy who is an unsuccessful rock star and gets so limited screen time that his story is nothing more than sentimental eye candy. On top of that, the movie is slowly paced, even for a ninety minute long film. While the relationships built in the film are enjoyable to watch, one cannot deny that it’s not the most breathtaking movie in the world and can be, at times, quite boring. Fortunately, the dialogue is well written and the interplay between the characters is enough to keep interest.

Overall, The Cake Eaters is a good watch if you don’t mind a down-to-earth, small budget film that features deep themes of grief and a need of togetherness. Not for those desperate for mind-blowing graphics, simple stories and fast-paced action, The Cake Eaters is made a success by its realistic tale of turmoil-struck families and by its powerful performances by its rather low scale and unknown cast of actors and actresses.

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