We headed to the movies this weekend for the first time since the disappointment of Spider-Man 3. We stepped away from the big summer movies and caught the delightful comedy Waitress. Keri Russell (TV’s Felicity) stars as a waitress, Jenna, who is trapped in a marriage from hell and is newly pregnant. What she really wants to do is open up her own pie shop and keep making up new pies like “I hate my husband pie” (chocolate with mashed up blackberries and raspberries).
The supporting cast in this gem is top notch across the board. Cheryl Hines (TV’s Curb Your Enthusiasm) is one of Jenna’s friends who is always offering up sound and witty advice. Andy Griffith turns up as the gruff owner of the pie shop Jenna works at and is pushing for her to just “start fresh.” It’s awesome to see Griffith back in a movie and in part that’s nothing like his TV personas. The film’s writer/director Adrienne Shelly also co-stars as the meek waitress, Dawn, who is looking for a marriage that is nothing like Jenna’s (Shelly’s is a tragic story as she was murdered in NYC last fall and did not get to see her movie become the critical success that it has).
If you want to take a break from the big summer movies like we did, find this movie when it comes to your town. It’s still opening in limited release, adding screens every week. It is worth your time… check out the trailer below and you’ll see what I mean.