Waitress on DVD (2007)

Waitress

SAI81 from Tonbridge [Highly rated reviewer] , 19/08/2007

Adrienne Shelly's fourth film as writer/director is one of those wonderful surprises that the cinema, every so often, hands to you. At first glance you've seen it all before; a woman (Russell) trapped in an unhappy marriage to a man she doesn't even like anymore (Sisto) who falls pregnant and looks for a way to escape the rut her life is in, perhaps through a relationship with the handsome new doctor in town (Fillion). As with so many things though Waitress is all in the execution.

Shelly's script just sparkles. It's loaded end to end with jokes, the great bulk of them laugh out loud funny. What makes Waitress stand out though is that all these jokes feel organic. These aren’t words put into people’s mouths, they come from the characters, each of whom establishes his or her own distinct voice. Shelly wisely keeps the direction simple for the most part and the film grounded solidly in reality, which allows the scripts broader moments to be easier to accept.

She’s also helped in this by her excellent cast. Keri Russell is an actress I’ve only seen briefly and, to be honest, never thought a great deal of. What a difference here. The whole movie rests on Russell’s shoulders and she’s brilliant in it. Jenna’s a cutie and a sweet person but Russell and Shelly refuse to make her perfect; she can be short tempered, she cheats on her husband with a married man and she doesn’t love her coming baby…. And yet Russell is so magnetic and funny that you can’t help but love Jenna and root for her every step of the way. Nathan Fillion is effective as the constantly on edge Dr Pomater and his effortless way with a one-liner, honed under Joss Whedon, is a gift for the movie. The pie diner at which Jenna works provides a strong supporting cast too with Cheryl Hines amusingly dense, but not a little touching, as Becky and Shelly herself, sweetly funny as Dawn. Also worth mentioning are scene nabbing turns from Eddie Jemison and from Andy Griffith.

Waitress, unlike most rom-coms, doesn’t offer simple answers. It doesn’t tie everything up in a nice neat bow with everyone happy and smiling as the credits roll. It’s much more interesting and shaded than that.

That said this is an amazingly sweet film, but one which manages to carry that tone off without becoming so sugary as to be cloying.

There is sadness behind Waitress though. This is the final film by Adrienne Shelly, soon after it was completed and mere days after its acceptance to the Sundance film festival Shelly was murdered in a senseless attack in her office. There could be no better tribute than this film, it’s as alive and as engaging as any released in a very long time and will ensure that though we won’t have any more films from this hugely promising writer/director we’ll remember and treasure this one at least.

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Book a table.. this is worth a watch...

PaulaWestwood from Ashton-Under-Lyne [Highly rated reviewer] , 22/08/2007

A very nice quirky, thoughtful, rom-com that is certainly not run of the mill stuff, it follows the very different but somehow fused characters in, and surrounding, a diner style pie house in the U.S.A. That is the U.S. 'mommas' sort of pies - not the ones with steak and kidney in from Wigan !

There are quite a few little side plots and stuff that really draw you in rather than distract you, and the whole is a wonderfully acted, wonderfully scripted and warmly made peach of a film that I would definately recommend.

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MMM Falling-In-Love-With-A-Movie Pie...

hunkydomste from Liverpool [Highly rated reviewer] , 23/08/2008

Slightly girly, warm yet bittersweet, well written, funny, sometimes cringey, curl-up-to-movies not for you? Then leave this one for those, who like me relish its flavours that, like Jenna's Oasis pie, open up one after the other and become even more enjoyable with the next helping.

Watch Waitress once and you will instantly know that writer/director/actress Adrienne Shelly has indeed baked a pie with the heart firmly in the middle. You can pick up on the instant goodies such as 'Uncongratulations'-'Unthank you', the witty dialogue throughout, the wonderful performances and the fact that yes, this is essentially a feel good movie, but it has its darker turns.

Then watch it again, knowing that this is the last film Adrienne made before being killed in 2006, and the bittersweet taste buds on your tongue get a whole new flavour experience.

And if you find yourself singing or humming along to the song over the credits, which was written for the movie especially (by Shelly), then for you, like for me, this film will occupy that spot where the little movie gems go.

Wonderfully brilliant.

SEE THIS IF YOU LIKED

*JUNO

*FRIED GREEN TOMATOES...

*CHOCOLAT

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Bittersweet! A must watch!

A customer from South West London , 18/08/2007

I wasn't too keen on watching a movie about a waitress whose only talent was making pies inspired by the mood she was in. But after having read about Shelly's death and the fact that she died before knowing how successfully her movie was received by the public, I decided to go and see it. And I was certainly not disappointed. The movie has real depth, and alot of thought was put into the plot development.It tells the story of a young waitress in some hick town in the deep south, who is married to a man she doesn't love.Her life is lacklustre except for her only passion: making pies,which she does really well.

Her plan is to set aside some money and then run away and leave her husband, but becoming unexpectedly pregnant sets off several events that allow her to start her life anew, in a very unexpected (and very moving) way . It's a really positive, upbeat film with a real life affirming message. It saddens me that such a young talented film maker and actress (Shelly who also plays one of the waitresses in the movie) should have died so young, but her last contribution, this movie is beautiful and significant and won't be forgotten!

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All icing and no cake

A customer from London , 07/08/2008

I was so, so disappointed in and puzzled by this movie. Disappointed, because many of the reviews I'd read had led me to expect a profound commentary on how an oppressed woman finds joy and salvation, and instead I found it banal. Puzzled, for the same reason. My experience of this film was so at odds with that of many professional reviewers that it has made me question my ability to tell if a film is good or bad.

It was somehow dishonest, I felt, to show the eponymous waitress achieving a state of fulfilment without showing how she'd got there. There was no psychological insight at all offered into why characters behaved as they did. Call me a prude, but I was just appalled by the way an affair with a happily-married man was thrown into the mix - and then just snuffed out, without comment, as easily as if it had been a little tiny birthday cake candle.

The film looked like it would deal with the very serious subject of how a wife handled a rotten, desperate relationship with an insecure, controlling oaf of a husband and an unwanted pregnancy - but it just didn't.

The beautiful close-ups of food and clever use of 1950s 'American pie' 'All American Housewife' imagery, updated to look believable today, were impressive and, if the story had had any moral value, would have worked beautifully and ironically.

I checked out the commentary with the actors after this film ended and found that it shed no light on what the movie was about.

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Waitress

A customer from reading , 06/07/2008

This was a very boring film, no real story line and very hard going

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