For a few months after the Oscars, there just wasn't much out there at the ol' cineplex. That changed when Waitress came along. Initially released just in New York and L.A., it got good buzz and quickly got a national release later in May. It's got a great cast: Keri Russell, who we liked in the late '90s TV series "Felicity"; Nathan Fillion ("Firefly"); Jeremy Sisto ("Six Feet Under"); and Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthusiasm").
The premise isn't a shockingly original one. Russell plays Jenna, a waitress at a Southern diner married to an abusive nightmare of a husband (Sisto). She finds out she's pregnant -- news that she receives with horror because it means she's tied to her husband forever. In desperation, she launches into an affair with the town's hunky OB/GYN, Dr. Pomatter (Fillion, whose wide-eyed earnestness successfully defuses the inherent ick factor here).
What elevates the film beyond Lifetime chick-flick status are the sharp script and stylized (I'm trying not to say "quirky") direction of Adrienne Shelly, who also appears in the film as one of Jenna's fellow waitresses. Jenna's specialty is pies, and each pie she makes (which we see in sped-up video as if through Jenna's imagination) sheds light on her emotional state (I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie). There's also an irresistible sequence where Russell walks through her day in a starry-eyed, lovestruck reverie, set to the tune of "Short Skirt, Long Jacket" by Cake. It's a great scene, and one that makes subversive use of Russell's cutie-pie image. Andy Griffith also appears in a small but important role.
The end of the film has some added emotional resonance because of the knowledge that Shelly, in real life, was murdered in New York City shortly after completing the film. It leaves you wondering what might have been, but it also leaves you grateful that we have this heartfelt diamond in the rough to remember her by.
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