Waitress: Movie Review (2007) by Christopher Smith

Unfortunately, the new Adrienne Shelly movie, “Waitress,” is the last Adrienne Shelly movie.

The writer-actor-director was murdered Nov. 1, 2006 by Diego Pillco, a 19-year-old thug who grew so tired of Shelly's complaints of the loud noise coming from his New York City apartment that he decided to end her life by knocking her unconscious and, in an effort to make her death look like a suicide, hanging her in a bathtub with a bed sheet.

Some readers might wonder who Shelly is. The short answer is that she was one of those gifted character actors you recognize and appreciate when you see them onscreen, but whose name eludes you because, in this case, stardom eluded her.

Over the years, Shelly appeared in a number of films, most notably 1989's “The Unbelievable Truth” and 1990's “Trust,” and later in episodes of HBO's “Oz” and NBC's “Law & Order,” as well as in 2005's “Factotum” with Keanu Reeves.

Watching “Waitress,” which Shelly wrote, directed and in which she has a major supporting role, there's the sense that her fortunes might have changed after this movie, which underscores just how ridiculously tragic her death is.

The film stars Keri Russell ("Felicity") as Jenna, a gifted pie maker and waitress in a small Southern town whose imagination, at least when it comes to conceiving new pies, knows no limits.

Her pies match her moods. Since she's stuck in a bad marriage with Earl (Jeremy Sisto) and recently learned she's pregnant with his child, which she wants about as much as she wants Earl himself, Jenna makes such classics as "I Hate My Husband Pie," "Baby Screaming Its Head Off in the Middle of the Night and Ruining My Life Pie," "Pregnant Miserable Self-Pitying Loser Pie" and "Earl Murders Me Because I'm Having an Affair Pie," which runs blood-red with the syrup of mashed raspberries.

About that last pie. Upon going to her gynecologist to address the unwanted situation of her "damn baby," as she calls it, Jenna finds that her doctor is phasing into retirement and that a new doctor, the studly Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion, "Serenity"), has taken over the practice. The relationship that steams between them is heated with reckless, comic abandon, with Jenna's co-workers, Dawn (Shelly) and Becky (Cheryl Hines), offering raised eyebrows and halting advice as they freely tamper with their own lives.

Russell is very good here, easily winning audiences over in a tricky role that could have been abrasive if the actress didn't find unexpected ways to make her character so appealing. Her relationship with Andy Griffith's grumbling Old Joe, for instance, who owns the diner where Jenna works, is shaded with nuance. You don't sneak anything past Old Joe--not a pregnancy, not a bad marriage, and certainly not an affair--and to Jenna's credit, she doesn't try. The bond they create is satisfying and real.

Filled with small moments that resonate with restraint, this subtle, funny, character-driven movie initially might be viewed with curiosity and sentiment--but no film, if it's bad, can sustain either for long. Shelly's legacy and her gift is something Diego Pillco couldn't take from her--a strong movie, our gratitude and in the end, our respect.

Grade: A-