Movie Watch! - Waitress

Waitress (2007) - A delectably wondrous confection, light and airy like a tangy-sweet lemon meringue pie. That's a perfect description for the late Adrienne Shelly's final film, who wrote, directed, and has a supporting role in this warm-spirited comedy about Jenna, a Southern waitress/pie-making genius who's stuck in a terrible marriage to a terribly insecure, controlling man. Jenna comes to life in a revelatory performance from Keri Russell, who makes Jenna shine through all the doldrums of her life with an irresistible charm and a heartbreaking smile. Her husband Earl is played by Jeremy Sisto, who is equally important in making us understand the difficult situation Jenna faces. For as awful and horrid as Earl, he seems like he might genuinely love Jenna on some level. Whether it's driven by insecurity and fear or by pure mental instability isn't known for sure, and this ambiguity is delivered to perfection by Sisto. Jenna's ob-gyn Dr. Pomatter (played by the clean-cut, sweetly handsome Nathan Fillion) is a wonderful, loving, married man, maybe also a little crazy, but purely kind in every way to Jenna. She could leave the man who clings so desperately to her for this man, but who's to say he'd be right to leave his wife? There's a ton of side characters that we all fall for, and while the movie seems to change moods sporadically, music and attitude and all, it's still an effectively delightful time, even if it is rather fluffy overall. 7/10