Jenna (an Oscar worthy Keri Russell) sums up her life in her pies, giving them titles that leave nothing to the imagination, such as “I-Don’t-Want-Earl’s-Baby Pie,” “I-Hate-My-Husband Pie” or my favorite, “Pregnant-Miserable-Self-Pitying-Loser Pie”. As you might be able to guess just by the names of the pies, Waitress is the story of Jenna, a waitress and brilliant pie-creator, dealing with an unexpected pregnancy courtesy of her abusive, horrible husband Earl (Jeremy Sisto). Seems the baby ruins all her chances of getting away from Earl, and to say Jenna is a little resentful of it is an understatement. Add in the handsome Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillon) she has a crush on, and you have the perfect recipe for a trite melodrama.
So what then makes Waitress anything but a trite melodrama? The answer is simple: Adrienne Shelly. The young star of cultish indie films such as I’ll Take You There and Factotum serves as writer, director and co-star here, and her talents have truly come into their own. The screenplay is filled with real, lovably unique characters, such as Shelly’s own waitress looking for love by 5-minute blind dates and the great Andy Griffith as the grouchy diner owner fascinated with Jenna. The movie is neither too bland and mainstream or too obnoxiously independent and quirky. Instead, Shelly does what everyone should do: she tells her story as simply as it needs to be told, on her own terms. Her directing is never overly flashy, and the few times Shelly tries something a little different, it serves Jenna’s story and strengthens the film.
Near the heart of the film is, as the trailers would tell you, the blossoming romance between Jenna and Dr. Pomatter. The fact that this is an adulterous affair might strike a wrong chord in some viewers, and that’s understandable. However, I’d ask that you don’t judge the movie for the acts of the characters. None of the characters in Waitress are perfect people, and the film never passes judgment on any of their wrong-doings or mistakes. It just presents them honestly, and really, isn’t that exactly what art should do?
At its core, “Waitress” is about Jenna’s pregnancy and lack of desire to have a child. She even semi-jokes at one point about whether she might be able to sell it. Shelly explains “I was about eight months pregnant (while writing Waitress), and I was really scared about the idea of having a baby. I couldn’t imagine how my life was going to be, that it would change so drastically that I wasn’t even going to recognize myself anymore. I was terrified and I really had never seen that reflected in anything, not in a book or in a movie.”
The movie feels like a love letter to Shelly’s child, and it’s this genuineness that allows the movie to pass unscathed through its pseudo-fantasy climax. There’s nothing wrong with a little magic, as long as it’s real and true. Waitress is both of those things and more.

Next week: THE NAMESAKE!