"Waitress" Review

by Jeff McGinnis, Lead Usher

***1/2 stars (out of four)
104 minutes, Now Showing


What a wonderfully odd and unique movie to be talking about. "Waitress" is a comedy which prides itself on never quite going where you think it is, one which would love to introduce you to some characters you've never met before. In today's filmgoing climate, that is certainly a most welcome change.

This is a movie about love and hate, joy and sorrow, hope and hopelessness, rebellion and acceptance, and learning to be strong by being selfless. If I made no sense in that previous sentence, trust me, you'll understand once you see the film. The film runs the gambit in terms of its theme - in turn, it is about being in love, being married to someone you don't love, being pregnant, being a friend, being trapped, and more. It is all unified by director Adrienne Shelley with an infectiously joyous tone which underscores every scene, and a wonderful performance by Keri Russell, who, if she wasn't quite a big star before this movie came out, will certainly be now that it has.

As the film opens, we meet Jenna (Russell), a waitress at a small town pie shop named Joe's Diner. She is a master at pie-making, inventing a new kind every day as the house special, and pours her emotions into every pie she invents. Right after the movie begins, she learns she is pregnant and immediately fashions a "I Don't Want Earl's Baby" pie.

Earl (Jeremy Sisto) is Jenna's husband, and if you had him for a spouse, you might make a pie with such a sentiment, too. Earl is a mean and selfish man who is exceedingly controlling of Jenna, who he wants to stay right where she is so that she can never leave him. She dreams of heading off to a big national pie-making contest and making her fortune, but he flips out and drags her home as she tries to leave. Earl's demeanor and character ride the line of being over-the-top, but the world certainly has its fair share of Earls out there, and there is tremendous satisfaction in how his storyline is finally resolved.

Upon learning of her pregnancy, Jenna goes to her longtime doctor, only to find out that she has semi-retired and is being replaced by Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion), a handsome young man who quickly takes an interest in Jenna. The two of them fall into an affair practically without realizing it, even though they're both married. "Maybe we could have a coffee or something,” he says. She directly replies that coffee is on the list of bad foods he gave her when she got pregnant. "What kind of doctor are you?"

The film is peopled with unique and interesting characters in every corner of the frame. Jenna's best friends at the diner are fellow waitresses Becky (Cheryl Hines), who is constantly grousing that her breasts are crooked, and Dawn (Shelley herself), a mousy but loveable woman who is always on the lookout for love. Cook and manager Cal (Lew Temple) seems to be of a disagreeable disposition, but he has a few surprises in store. Diner owner and mainstay Old Joe (Andy Griffith) seems like a picky and crotchety old coot, but he comes with the obligatory level of homespun wisdom, delivered by Griffith in a way that always feels genuine.

Russell was a fairly unknown performer to me prior to this film. I had never seen her popular show “Felicity,” and her previous movies (including “Mission: Impossible III”) had missed my radar, as well. Here she crafts a screen character that is unique and engaging, completely sympathetic and ultimately lovable. She is the rock on which the whole film stands, as she appears in every scene, and at the end, when her character takes a surprising and sudden turn, we completely understand the thought process that leads her to do it. Before our eyes, we can see her character grow up.

The film also boasts a highly energetic and whimsical visual style. The frame comes saturated with bright, primary colors that practically jump off the screen, depicting an idealized small-town world which Jenna’s drama plays itself out in front of. Dialogue crackles with fast-paced wit and genuinely big laughs while never violating tone or character. Shelley has crafted a world that it is impossible to not smile while you are watching.

Ultimately, “Waitress” is a film about coming to terms with responsibility, and how surprisingly easy it can be to initiate change in your own life, if you want to bad enough. There comes a moment of revelation for Jenna that hits with startling focus (both emotional and literal, in film terms) where suddenly life seems much clearer than it ever has, and what she has to do and hasn’t been able to become remarkably easy. It is odd how, sometimes in life, the easiest decisions are the hardest ones to reach. Another summer film, “Knocked Up,” deals with similar issues and themes (and both use a pregnancy as their central storytelling conceit), but as good as “Knocked Up” is, “Waitress” goes deeper and is even funnier. If you have to choose, this is the one to see.


(NOTE: Tragically, director and writer Adrienne Shelley was murdered last fall in her hometown of New York. She was only 40 years old. I chose to avoid mentioning this in the body of the review, as coverage of the film seems almost dominated by it (I’ve found myself bringing it up a great deal, too), and it threatens to overwhelm discussion of the movie itself. I think if I were Shelley, I’d really want people to talk about the film, particularly when she has left us with such a tremendously touching and entertaining work. Nevertheless, it is a sad postscript that such an obviously talented filmmaker would have her life end in such a way, particularly when she was in the process of completing what certainly would have been her breakout film.)