I’ve an overwhelming desire to embrace complete bias in reviewing this movie. Waitress, after all, was the last creation of its writer/director, Adrienne Shelly, who was tragically murdered by a construction worker in her New York apartment during the making of the film. In resisting the temptation to alter my appraisal of Waitress, I’ll allow myself to crack just one cheap food analogy: I want to fib favorably as one does after eating a less than fantastic slice of something home-baked by a dear friend. “Oh of course it was delicious!” and “No, all of that pie you’ve been eating is not making you fat!” But I would be a bad friend if this were how I behaved and a bad movie reviewer if I extended the same type of dishonesty to my cinematic opinions.
This said, I wouldn’t tip this Waitress very well. The romantic comedy centers around a beautiful young southern waitress named Jenna (Keri Russell), who is saving her money and dreaming of winning the cash prize in a pie baking contest so that she can leave her good for nothing husband, Earl (Jeremy Sisto.) The plot becomes complicated when Jenna finds she’s gotten pregnant in a drunken lapse of judgment with the husband she otherwise won’t let near her. She is comforted by her fellow table waiting pals, outrageous Becky (Cheryl Hines) and demure Dawn (Adrienne Shelly), but the two gals have their own issues with men: Becky is both married to an invalid husband and engaged in a kitchen counter affair with the diner’s cook, and Dawn is pursued and eventually smitten by a creepy stalker. The situation becomes even more entangled when Jenna finds herself in a love affair with her married physician, Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion.) Miraculously, everything works out in the end, but not without leaving a doubting taste in my mouth.
I’ll tell you, this film is down right beautiful. Keri Russell is stunning on screen, even when her character is smudge faced after the often spontaneous encounters with her doctor leave her lipstick everywhere but her mouth. Jenna is a genius at pie baking, and if her pastries taste anywhere near as good as they look, it’s no wonder she has everyone at Joe’s Diner drooling over her inventions. There is a very obvious visual symbolism throughout the film: Jenna and her fellow waitresses are often clothed in blue as they negotiate their way through a male dominated world; in the end Jenna and her daughter are clad in an androgynous, euphoric yellow as they make their way as independent women.
There is a lot of cute comedy here as well. Waitress certainly has a unique perspective on things like morning sickness. Throughout the film, Jenna’s impulses to vomit seem humorously deliberate. She routinely announces when she is about to toss a bit, usually after obviously nauseating encounters with the film’s less than desirable men: her own slob of a husband and Dawn’s elfish, overly self-impressed stalker/boyfriend.
But the movie’s characters are just far too underdone. Throughout the entire 104 minutes I found myself asking the same question: “Am I supposed to like these men?” The screen time devoted to the relationship between Jenna and Earl was often down right upsetting between the condescending, abusive dialogue and the marital rape scenes. Yet there is a very active part of the movie that tries to evoke sympathy for Earl by portraying him as mostly simple minded and insecure. I am not sure what to make of Dr. Pomatter either. Is he a lovable, misguided hunk, or filthy stock character cheater doctor? The movie doesn’t seem to have an opinion either way, and that made me mad.
But what really disturbed me was the ambiguity of the lead character herself. What made Jenna so wonderful were her frankness, her perceptiveness, and her sharp edged, witty humor. How did it come to pass then that an intelligent, talented woman would marry such a chum? Especially since Jenna frequently points out during the movie that she never intended to have anyone’s children. I thought the main reason otherwise intelligent women marry idiot men was explicitly to have babies.
Here’s the deal: Waitress made me hungry and uncomfortable. It tries too hard to make spousal abuse and discrimination against women cute. And this is all the more disturbing considering what happened to its director. If you like half-baked girl power, Waitress may appeal to your taste.
Liz Licorish
Comments directed to: LizFlix@gmail.com
