Available at Amazon.com
Director
Adrienne Shelly
Cast
Keri Russell ………. Jenna
Nathan Fillion ………. Dr. Pomatter
Cheryl Hines ………. Becky
Jeremy Sisto ………. Earl
Andy Griffith ………. Old Joe
Adrienne Shelly ………. Dawn
Eddie Jemison ………. Ogie
Lew Temple ………. Cal
The Movie
Every year there’s one quirky film that comes out during the summer blockbuster season, hits the art house circuit and finds audience despite reaching less than 100 theatres during its theatrical release. In 2007 it was Waitress, which was released in the same weekend that Spider-Man 3 opened to one of the biggest box office bonanzas ever. Buried in the avalanche of the web-slinger’s third entry, Waitress found strong reviews and managed to make a decent amount at the box office. Like can be said of many of the better independent films of this year, their first wide release is on DVD as opposed to theatrically.
Waitress stars Keri Russell in the titular role as Jenna, who works with Becky (Cheryl Hines) and Dawn (Adrienne Shelly) as waitresses at a small town diner. When Jenna finds out she’s pregnant, after her husband Earl (Jeremy Sisto) got her drunk as a seduction tool, she’s determined to have the baby if only as a means of escaping him and his increasing dominance over every aspect of her life. Her affair with her married gynecologist (Nathan Fillion) drives the film during the nine months of her pregnancy, but the film really doesn’t have a coherent story arc for the most part. It’s more about Jenna going from being apathetic towards the pregnancy and her position in life to a 180 degree turn in responding to it all.
It’s mainly a quirky romantic comedy with an emphasis on the comedy and less on the romance. While not the type of romantic comedy of the modern age, i.e. films like Failure to Launch and the clichéd formula that they follow, Waitress is more of a Woody Allen type film in how it focuses on the quirks of romance as opposed to introducing to us a couple that will be together by the end of 90 minutes. Dr. Pomatter and Jenna will never be together in the true sense of the phrase; both are married and she’s carrying someone else’s child. Rather the film focuses on Jenna and her desire to be happy with what she has in life. The child inside is paramount to a spiritual revival of sorts within her; as she progresses through the film and through her pregnancy Jenna grows with it.
And the film is driven by its lead. Russell has the sort of oddball sense of humor and timing to make it work, despite the part being written originally for Adrienne Shelly (the film’s director and writer). Russell may not have been the person envisioned for the part but she really makes it her own; she underplays a lot of things with a sort of deadpan delivery that makes inherently funny material much better. She owns the part with an intense understatement of sorts; this is the kind of part it would be easy to go over the top with and she does the complete opposite.
Waitress thrives off this, filling that niche of a quirky comedy that doesn’t aspire to be anything more than a quirky comedy.
A/V QUALITY CONTROL
Waitress is a film designed to have lots of color and unique scenery to give it a quirky look to match its quirky mannerisms. Presented in a Dolby Digital format, with a widescreen presentation, the film’s colors come out wonderfully. While the film isn’t built around a booming score or a soundtrack, it does possess a potent audio quality to it.
The Extras
This is how we made Waitress pie is a fluff piece about the film that runs around 10 minutes and focuses on the film’s production.
Written and directed by Adrienne Shelly: A Memorial is a look back at Shelly, who was brutally murdered before the film’s release. It’s a retrospective from everyone involved in the film about her in a loving and heartfelt manner.
Hi! I’m Keri. I’ll be your Waitress focuses on the star of the film and her interpretation of the role of Jenna.
The Pies Have It! is a short piece about the pies involved in the film over a montage of footage from the film about the pies themselves.
Fox Movie Channel Presents In Character With Keri Russell, Cheryl Hines and Nathan Fillion. Each talk about their characters in relation to the film for a brief amount of time.
Russell also gives a brief PSA about the Adrienne Shelly Foundation.
Commentary by Producer Michael Roiff and Russell
