Waitress is a completely, unabashedly lovely little indie comedy. Keri Russell stars as Jenna, a pie shop waitress and superb baker who also happens to be married to the neediest, meanest schlub in town (Jeremy Sisto). Having planned her great escape from her belligerent spouse, she’s none too happy to discover that she also happens to be carrying his baby. She meets with the new doctor in town, Jim Pomatter,(Nathan Fillion) to weigh her options, and eventually decides to have the baby but not be happy about it.The film is a darling (sometimes overly) confection of slapstick and gooey optimism that plays something like an old screwball comedy topped off with Sundance era quirk. Thankfully, Jenna’s dry, drawling Southern wit snips away at most of the exceedingly adorable moments as does the overall strength of the ensemble, each member of which gives a performance of surprising sincerity in the midst of madcap mania. Jenna’s situation is often bleak and she gets to fully explore the darkness of her dilemma. Of course, she gets her happy ending (or almost, anyway), but that doesn’t mean the journey has to be entirely carefree. In addition to the baby that she claims she’ll never love, she’s also toying with the possibility of having an affair with her new doctor despite the threats of her cantankerous, abusive husband. The whole movie is a finely tuned balancing act of goofy montages and sudden, piercing dramatic weight. For the most part, there’s nary a misstep, but as the movie spins along it starts to get tangled in its own web of half-cute heartbreak, leading to a light, enjoyable but maybe a little too perfect finale.
The tone reflects a lovely creative voice held by star, writer, and director Adrienne Shelly whose tragic murder earlier this year looms heavily over the bittersweet film. Shelly’s last work is as sweetly satisfying a footprint as anyone could hope to leave behind. It would take quite a cynic to pooh-pooh her positively radiant final performance. As Jenna’s shy, love starved co-worker Dawn she manages to steal scenes and win hearts in ways a leading lady never could. It’s the sort of wonderful sidebar role that offers endearing tangents to offset the main plotline just enough to keep the material from running itself into the ground.
Shelly’s talents are only a small part of the all-around genius ensemble cast. Russell is brilliant in the leading role. Her face is stuffed full of worried expression and yet it also effortlessly emits the kind of warmth that many romantic comedy starlets futilely scrunch their noses and bite their lips trying to capture. She’s matched on screen by Nathan Fillion playing the nervous, good-hearted object of her affections. His flibbertigibbet personality is actually a huge step forward when you think about it. Leading men tend mostly to just swagger around and be reassuring a la Matthew McConaughey is just about anything, but Fillion makes Dr. Pomatter compassionate, vaguely troubled and a whole lot of fun to watch. Rounding out the cast is the brave Jeremy Sisto letting himself be as loathsome as could be, Cheryl Hines playing a kindly trollop in a funny little subplot of her own, and the legendary Andy Griffith who is better than ever as the pie shop’s cranky but secretly caring owner.
You can poke about a dozen holes in the sugary logic of this movie, or gripe about some of its less effective stylistic choices (I’ll admit the direction is a tad amateurish), but it’s still a genuinely funny, rewarding feel good comedy that’s amply entertaining and deeply likable.
Grade: B+
