I'm really pleased and frankly relieved to report that, a couple of snippable minutes and some dubious music choices aside (that Cake song about the jacket is one thing, but a cover of Howard Jones' "No One Is To Blame" is pushing it), writer/director Adrienne Shelly's final feature Waitress is a delight, a refreshing comedy that mixes a bunch of familiar ingredients in offbeat ways that pay off every time, much in the way that its title character Jenna (the fabulous Keri Russell)blends, say, blackberries with bittersweet chocolate in her universally beloved pies.
The movie, in which Jenna finds herself pregnant by her awful husband and dreading everything that is to come, and who promptly complicates her life by falling hard for her new ob-gyn, winds up being a paean to motherhood. Shelly was murdered in an awful crime last fall, by a vile coward who argued with her, knocked her out, and hung her while she still breathed in order to make her look like a suicide. She is survived by her husband and now nearly four-year-old daughter, who is the toddler Russell holds in her arms in the last shot of the film. Waitress is so lively, fresh and funny that it makes you forget the tragedy that came in the wake of its making while you're watching it. Shelly herself is wonderful in a supporting role, as is everyone else in the cast-Cheryl Hines, Jeremy Sisto, and more, including a spectacular Andy Griffith...
As of now it hasn't been picked up for distribution, but it will be. The screening was very emotional. One of the things I'm feeling right now is sorry that I won't be seeing anymore Adrienne Shelly films.
[Note: in the original version of this post, I mistakenly referred to this as Shelly's feature debut. Friend Aaron gently corrects me below. All I have in my defense is the fog of Sundance, and maybe the fact that her actual feature debut was a pretty short one...okay, that second one is a stretch. Apologies.]
Ah, but it was not Adrienne Shelly's feature debut. There was also 1997's "Sudden Manhattan" (of which I've heard is understandably Hal Hartley-esque) and 1999's "I'll Take You There," a better than average rom-com starring Ally Sheedy.
As a fan, especially of her acting, I hope you're right about people being able to separate the tragedy from the work. Looking forward to it...
Posted by: Aaron Hillis | January 22, 2007 at 03:02 AM
Yes, WAITRESS is her third feature. She also has three short film credits, only one of which, LOIS LIVES A LITTLE, I have seen. It aired on Lifetime cable.
Great to read the positive review, Glenn. As a big fan of Adrienne, and Keri, I can't wait to see it.
Posted by: Talking Moviezzz | January 22, 2007 at 05:30 PM