Waitress

February 20, 2010 - Life is like a slice of pie in this comedy from writer/director/actress Adrienne Shelly. She was murdered about six months before the movie came out in May 2007. Shelly has a supporting role while Keri Russell (Felicity) and Nathan Fillion (Castle) play the leads. The cast also includes Cheryl Hines, Jeremy Sisto and Andy Griffith.

Russell plays Jenna, an unhappily married woman who works as a waitress at Joe's Pie Diner. Jenna's unique talent is not waiting tables but concocting delicious pies with fanciful names for any occasion. As the film opens, Jenna learns she is pregnant and quickly thinks up a recipe for "Bad Baby Pie."

Although she's not happy about being pregnant, Jenna plans to have the baby. She meets Dr. Pomatter (Fillion), the new OB/GYN in town, and the two quickly start an affair. At the same time, Jenna is trying to save enough money to leave her controlling husband (Sisto). She gets some help in this department from Joe (Griffith), the curmudgeonly owner of the diner.

Overall review: *** A quirky, likeable movie with quirky, likeable characters. Russell is in nearly every scene and does a good job of carrying the movie. The supporting actors flesh out their roles well, creating full characters despite limited screen time. Andy Griffith, especially, is a treat. I watched Waitress on cable TV, so commercials stretched out the running time to 2:30. It's really more like 1:40 and I think would have good pacing without the constant interruptions.