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At the opening night celebration for this year’s Deep Focus Film Festival, festival-goers learned about the dangers of alcohol—and not just because of the mini-martinis we spilled at the after-party. In the festival’s opening film, Waitress, Jenna (Keri Russell) learns about the dangers of alcohol the hard way—because she let her husband, Earl (Jeremy Sisto), get her drunk one night, and now she’s pregnant. For some women, that would be cause for celebration—but not for Jenna. She’s been stashing extra cash around the house for ages, trying to save up enough to leave her controlling jerk of a husband—and the last thing she needs right now is a baby. A baby will only complicate her plans to run off to the big pie bake-off, where she’ll win the $25,000 prize money that will help her leave Earl for good and start her own pie shop.
Jenna’s only escape from Earl’s grasp is at Joe’s, the pie diner where she works as a waitress. At Joe’s, Jenna’s fellow waitresses, Becky (Cheryl Hines) and Dawn (Adrienne Shelly), and the diner’s cranky owner, Old Joe (Andy Griffith), provide a much-needed distraction. And as she makes the pies each day, she gets a little bit of time to contemplate her problems—which only increase when she meets her handsome (and married) new doctor, Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion).
Its setting and its characters may remind you of the old sitcom Alice—and you’ll most likely know how it’s all going to end after about fifteen minutes—but Waitress still manages to feel as fresh and creative as the pies at Joe’s. This light and tasty romantic comedy mixes up just the right ingredients: a cute story that holds your attention, a lovable yet flawed main character, and entertaining supporting characters. It doesn’t hurt that the film was brilliantly cast. Russell is adorable as the meek but fed-up Jenna, and 80-year-old Andy Griffith couldn’t have been better as the cranky old guy who befriends her in his cranky old way. Mix in a little romance, a little comedy, and a whole bunch of mouth-watering pies, and you’ve got a winning recipe for a charming movie.
Nothing in this movie is overcooked. It’s sweet, but it’s not sappy. It’s funny, but it’s not outrageous. And it turns out exactly as you know it should. If you love romantic comedies (or pie, for that matter), don’t miss this one.
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