Nurse Betty is a 2000 American black comedy film directed by Neil LaBute and starring Renée Zellweger as the title character, a small town, Kansas waitress who suffers a nervous breakdown after witnessing her husband's torture murder, and starts obsessively pursuing her favorite television soap opera character (Greg Kinnear), while in a fugue state. Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock play the hitmen who killed her husband and subsequently pursue her to Los Angeles. The film premiered at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival on May 11, 2000. The film was released on September 8, 2000 by USA Films in the United States, with Summit Entertainment releasing in other territories.