Waitress (Widescreen Edition)

Heartfelt and Artistic
"Waitress" is one of the best films I have had the privelege to see so far this year. It is right up there with "Namesake." I loved everything about this movie: the directing, acting, writing. Let's start with the directing. Just as Scorsese did in "After Hours" and Truffaut did in "The 400 Blows," Shelly showed her heartfelt and artistic vision in "Waitress." There's one particular scene sequence that comes to mind that exemplifies this vision. It happens right after Jenna made love to Dr. Pomatter. There's a silly afterglow on her face. You see it when she's carrying trays in the restaurant. You see it when she's making pies. And you especially see it when she's sitting on a bench, waiting for the bus. That look on her face and the way the film was cut with those quick scenes left a profound impact on the viewer. You knew you were in a moment of brilliance. You can just feel how happy and liberated Jenna felt at that moment in the movie. Now let's talk about the...

Dropped Into the Pie Shop Universe
While "Waitress" is not flashy, it puts a smile on your face. Kerri Russell will probably forever be tagged as TV's Felicity - Senior Year Collection (The Complete Fourth Season). As Jenna, she turns in a comic & varied performance that bounces between joy & despair, submissiveness & assertiveness. Under director Adreienne Shelly's deft touch, the film handles the subject of domestic abuse with sensitivity and caring.

Jeremy Sisto who will probably be remembered for his appearances on TV's Six Feet Under - The Complete Third Season plays Jenna's controlling husband Earl. I kept flashing on the Dixie Chicks' song, but it was never used in the film that has a great musical selections. Sisto plays the role as a bruiser, but also with levels of dependency and desperation. His selfish nature only buys into Jenna's pregnancy when...

Pie
Towards the end of Adrienne Shelley's poignant "Waitress" there is a scene involving a very pregnant Jenna ( a luminous Kari Russell) and Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion) in which, as described by Jenna in voice-over, Pomatter embraces Jenna for 20 minutes with warmth, caring and empathy and more importantly for Jenna without a hint of lust. It's the kind of embrace that an intimate friend would give you: an embrace of platonic love, an embrace of understanding and commiseration. It is also an embrace which pretty much encapsulates all that is good and real about "Waitress": a film that is ultimately about hope and love and the redemptive properties of Pie.
Though often bordering on the sitcomishness of "Alice," Adrienne Shelley's ("Trust") "Waitress" manages for the most part to get at the heart of its concerns with humor and a good hearted wistfulness that never turns sour or maudlin: terms that can also be applied to Kari Russell's career making performance as Jenna...

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