Movie Notes: Waitress

September 28th, 2009

= 4 stars

Starring Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Andy Griffith
Directed by Adrienne Shelly

Synopsis

Waitress Jenna (Keri Russell) makes incredible pies, but the rest of her life is not so tasty. She’s married to loser Earl (Jeremy Sisto), has no money, and finds out she’s pregnant. Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion) manages to cheer her up, however.

The Good

• Several truly inspired movie moments, namely Jenna’s realization that Dr. Pomatter is into her — we get a slow camera zoom in on Jenna’s frozen, smiling face set to Cake’s Short Skirt/Long Jacket — I had to watch that montage twice. Also great is the pie-making theme, shot from overhead — whenever Jenna has an emotional moment she dreams up an associated pie.
• Keri Russell is charming, and this role shows she can really shine with the right material. Also funny is Fillion, although I’m quite biased in his favor from Firefly. Director Adrienne Shelly plays Dawn, Jenna’s co-worker, to good effect. Imagine a really toned-down Woody Allen.
• I know Earl is an ass, but I found a lot to laugh at in his pathetic-ness. There are some really sad running jokes on his part, namely the always-honking car horn and his really embarrassing come-ons resulting in the worst, hilarious sex-scene I’ve seen in a while.

The Bad

• Dr. Pomatter is married — a situation that almost seems like an afterthought by the end of the film. Would have been nice to have more conflict in that department.

Conclusion

Waitress had my name written all over it — Nathan Fillion (Firefly), a pie shop in a quirky small town (Twin Peaks), and an unplanned pregnancy (Juno). I ate it up.

IMDB: Waitress
Wikipedia: Waitress
Rotten Tomatoes: Waitress 88%