Movie review: Waitress

Pie as (bittersweet) life.

First, the bittersweet back story:

Adrienne Shelley, the multi-talented actress with model good looks who both wrote and directed Waitress, never lived to see it screen at Sundance (or, for that matter, at the USA Film Festival in Dallas); she died in early November of 2006 at the age of 40, killed in a dispute over construction noise. The details of the crime are so tragic and quirky that it inspired one of those "ripped from the headlines" episodes of Law & Order.

More on Waitress
Source: Cinema Source

It would have been a real shame to report that her sixth and final directorial effort (in which she also acted) was anything less than a brilliant piece of filmmaking, so consider it one of those serendipitous instances of rightness in the world that there'll be no such report necessary. In fact, the movie stands out among the mass of festival offerings as a slice of small-town southern life so bursting with unexpected flavor you'll be lining up for a second helping.

Here's the premise: Jenna (Keri Russell), a waitress with a preternatural flair for tasty pie-making, seems to have found her groove (or maybe it's more like a rut) in a carefree little community where she daily wows the patrons of the local pie diner with creations fit for the gustatory gods. Everything seems (almost) fine, things are doing (mostly) quite well, thanks, until Jenna - with the assistance of her waitress gal pals, Becky and Dawn (Cheryl Hines and Ms. Shelley) - figures out how to read one of those drugstore pregnancy kits and determines that she's been knocked up by her abusive, self-centered asshole of a husband, Earl (portrayed with a refreshing edge of vulnerability by Jeremy Sisto).

Jenna debates whether or not to tell Earl about her delicate condition, and when (after things start to become obvious) she is finally forced to do so, his puerile reaction demonstrates to us why she's delayed the admission for as long as possible. (One of Earl's key character traits is his habit of honking the car horn at two-second intervals, eight or a dozen times, whenever he arrives at the diner to pick up his wife. This guy's going to make a great dad.)

"Hush little baby, don't you pie. I MEAN, cry."

In any case, Jenna determines to have the child, bad dad or no bad dad, and proceeds to schedule regular visits to old doc Lily Mueller's office. Doc Mueller, it turns out, is in the process of retiring, and thus the care of Jenna's pregnancy is given over to her new resident, Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion, otherwise known as Captain Mal from Firefly/Serenity). While Pomatter puts on a show of professional propriety for the benefit of the up-front, honestly-unhappy-to-be-an-expectant-mom ("call me at any time if you have any questions or concerns..."), he's clearly smitten with her from the moment she walks into his office - and furthermore, in a confrontational, reluctant sort of way, she appears to be similarly affected by him. When they end up kissing (as we knew they eventually would), instead of the sound of bells the lovers are surrounded by the strains of a hallelujah choir as they're filmed from overhead by a spinning camera. Head over heels? Yep.

The offbeat charm of this drama comes from the wise, witty and often almost poetic dialogue bandied about by the characters - including Andy Griffith as the garrulous town curmudgeon, Old Joe, who shows up daily at the pie diner to harass the waitresses and sample their pastries. Of course, his grumpy post-lecherous rudeness turns out to be nothing but a flaky, baked-on outer crust covering a creamy filling of worldly wisdom. (Sorry about that.)

A frequently employed script device involves Jenna's imaginary formulation of pies inspired by events going on in her life, with the resulting creations thusly named. So, for instance, after the spinning camera church choir incident she'll mentally devise a pie called "If I Cheat On My No-Good Husband He'll Be Sure to Smite Me With a Blunt Instrument," and we'll get an actual vent-a-hood's-eye view of the thing, which'll maybe include apple butter spattered with whipped cream and a banana sticking up out of the middle. You get the idea.

Mmm.... pie and orange juice!

Ms. Russell's characterization of Jenna seems perfect - her fatalistic approach to this difficult time of her life is reflected in her dry low-register delivery of world-weary lines, as if nothing she says or does can have any effect on the outside (and inside) events shaping her existence. How stunning then, when - after the birth of her child, and in the first moments when she cradles the little girl in her arms - Jenna's view of things is suddenly and irrevocably changed. This observation is hammered home by director Shelley's canny use of selective focus in the scene.

Attendees at the USA Film Fest screening of Waitress were treated to a post-show Q/A with one of the film's waitress co-stars, Cheryl Hines (aka Cheryl David in Curb Your Enthusiasm). Cheryl came across as a good friend of the absent Ms. Shelley; she was clearly both moved by the implicit sadness of the occasion and thrilled to be sharing such a heartfelt creation with a theater full of appreciative film fans. Cheryl informed us that the shooting schedule was limited to only 20 days, and that - surprisingly - few pies were actually consumed by cast/crew over the course of the production, although hundreds were, in fact, created (and then wrangled by credited "pie gaffer" Stephen Olsen, who - if he didn't receive scale - at least could have made up for it in delectable edibles).

Cheryl's next movie project is an improvisational poker tourney comedy called The Grand. (Man, poker's getting big film-play all of a sudden.)

In a final bit of heart-tugging pathos, we learn from Cheryl that the little girl shown walking with her mom down the country lane during the film's end credit roll was played by Sophie, real-life daughter of Adrienne and her husband, Andy Ostroy. Dang.

Waitress begins its local run today (May 11) at the Magnolia, Northpark and Angelika Plano.

PRETTY STUPID, ALL RIGHT: "I do stupid things when I drink - like sleep with my husband." - Jenna to Becky and Dawn, re. the circumstances accounting for her pregnancy.

GESTATION PERIOD COMMENTARY: "It's an alien and a parasite." - Jenna, re. her baby-to-be.

AND THIS IS AN ARGUMENT?: "You're the only person that's ever belonged to me." - Earl to Jenna, in explanation of his demonstrated assholiness.