Review of Waitress (2007) by Issac L — 23 Jan 2012

Director/writer/actress Adrienne's jinxed misfortune (she was killed in a burglary at home) before releasing her second film in 2006 took on a critically unanticipated hype for this indie drama-comedy, starring a haplessly chirpy Keri Russell as the waitress and pie-baker, engrossed over 19 million dollars on the domestic box-office (versus its $2,000,000 budget).

I was prejudiced to expect a comedic girl-gone-independent rousing story thanks to the bright-colored poster, multi-montages of garish pies, the risible characters (Hines and Shelly, two co-worker at the pie diner). But soon it was exposed that the film takes on a rather weighty route to probe a matter-of-fact escapism of Keri's character, Jenna's birth (with a new baby on her way) and rebirth (her own life) plan, opening her own pie diner and leaving his fiendish-tempered husband. Apart from all the emotional empathy towards Adrienne, the film calls upon a solid soap-opera plot wisdom to embroider Jenna a down-to-earth plight till an energy-accumulated outburst strikes back to take reprisal for all the miseries she has and also be feasible to a blithe ending.

The film certainly possesses its own appeal to a more female-inclined demography, partial because of its not-so-subtle feminism by manufacturing a loathsomely sadistic husband, an adorable but weak-willed married gynecologist as the tryst fantasy, also a wealthy but eccentric old geezer who Jenna befriends with (no spoilers alert, also to render some explicable getaway for the revitalization of her new-born life and baby). Keri Russell acts in her comfort zone and by far it is her best work to widen her realm as a leading character, it's a shame that her recent films are not so-well-received, she is in my top 10 list of BEST ACTRESS in 2007, also R.I.P. Adrienne, may you have peace in heaven!