Waitress isn’t a conventional romantic comedy. It’s a film that has a touch of Nurse Betty and a drop of The Good Girl. Renee Zellweger starred as a nurse, who was infatuated with the ideals of a soap star and wanted to escape her life. Jennifer Aniston played the frustrated supermarket assistant, who decided to enter an unlikely relationship to find solace from a meaningless life. Waitress is similar in its make up, and Keri Russell (August Rush) is a depressed waitress, who is fed up with her dead-end job, abusive marriage and unwanted pregnancy.
The restaurant is pure Americana, and is reminiscent of the diner in Twin Peaks with the same classic look and fascination with pie. The clean diner covers the evil lurking in the background. For Twin Peaks that evil lay dormant in the woods, while Waitress finds this uneasiness in her personal circumstances. Russell embraces the role of Jenna, and her performance is bittersweet. Nathan Fillion is fantastic as Dr. Pomatter, whose nervous tics around Jenna are hilarious. Andy Griffith is in superb form as Joe, the cranky old guy with a bit of heart. While Cheryl Hines, Jeremy Sisto and Adrienne Shelly give full-bodied performances as the support.
Waitress is funny, dramatic and romantic in three equal parts. The collection of quirky small town friends set the scene for some light-hearted moments of relief. The drama and reality of Jenna’s unwanted pregnancy and failing marriage turn the audience’s attention to her need to escape. While the new chance at happiness adds an element of romance with secret encounters and lipstick smudges. This movie was written and directed by Adrienne Shelly, who stars as Dawn. Sadly, Waitress is also dedicated to her as she passed away before the film was released. She was pregnant with her daughter at the time of writing the script, and one day her daughter will be able to watch Waitress and comprehend her legacy.
The movie parallels emotions with pie-making, and Jenna creates pies in her mind to describe how she’s feeling. The concept is fresh and the whole film teems with acid humour and back room politics. Waitress is the definitive movie about pie, and roots itself in its tag line ‘If only life were as easy as pie’. It’s a shame that Adrienne Shelly won’t be making any more films.
The bottom line: Bittersweet.
