Friday, May 4, 2007

Endearing and Witty: Waitress

Waitress
Directed by Adrienne Shelly
Released May 2, 2007

Keri Russell stars as Jenna, a discontent waitress stuck with an abusive and oppresive husband who makes amazingly delicious pies. After discovering she is pregnant, Jenna begins a desperate affair with her nervous doctor, Dr. Pomatter while continually trying to figure out how to get away from her horrible husband. Adrienne Shelly's last film (she was tragically murdered in Greenwich Village last fall) is a sympathetic and fun story with equally loveable and hatable characters in it.

Keri Russell hardly expresses any emotion, but perhaps that is why she is a good choice to play Jenna. Her awkward chemistry with Nathan Fillion, who plays Pomatter, is enjoyable. Cheryl Hines is great as Jenna's friend Becky, and Jeremy Sisto plays the perfect asshole as Earl, Jenna's husband. Eddie Jemison and Lew Temple fill the background well as a suitor for Jenna's fellow waitress Dawn, and Jenna's annoying employer, respectively. Andy Griffith is likeable as the generally poorly-liked Joe, the owner of the pie diner where Jenna works. But the greatest performance in the film comes from Adrienne Shelly herself, in the role of the aforementioned Dawn, Jenna's nervous but likeable friend. It is nice to see that Shelly did a great job both behind and in front of the camera in her final feature. The theme of pies that carries through is also a lot of fun, and makes you very hungry.

B+

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just loved the movie Waitress. Keri Russell is just so believable and lovable.

Anonymous said...

ooo. definitely not a guy movie at all. i thought it was a good movie but that didnt stop myself from not enjoying it except for the scenes where keri made pies, they looked delicious. The old boss guy, i forget who it was and im too lazy to look it up did a good job and i enjoyed his character. truth is it just was not my type of movie. i also liked the boyfried/husband i dont even remember what he was exactly to the title character. i just have to make clear that i didnt side with him, i just liked his character. plus i think he is the jerk in clueless. so if u dont have a y chromy its prob worth seeing. but this was the only movie i saw this yr in theaters and didnt like. in fact i saw it with a friend and when we walked out he said "lets never mention we saw this to anyone" ill let him remain anonymous but i dont mind saying my name - heck ive seen wedding date twice and bridget jones 2 once. i guess now i know why i cant grow facial hair.
Sammy