„Waitress“ is 10 years old and still sweet as pie
Listen up y’all. One of the greatest indie movies ever made is 10 years old. I’m talking about Waitress. Obviously. But right around the 10 year anniversary since it’s premiere, let’s take a moment and reflect on Waitress.
Written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly, Waitress has been a favorite of mine for the past decade and a movie i turn to from time to time. It’s a movie equivalent of comfort food. Weather I’m happy or sad, or hurting or just want to spend 104 minutes watching a great heartwarming story I always turn to Waitress.
And why wouldn’t I turn to? I mean… it’s wonderfully written and directed by the talented Adrienne Shelly, it has a great cast, brilliantly quirky and lovable characters and Nathan Fillion in the male romantic lead. Plus he plays a nurturing and caring doctor. What’s not to love?
Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures
Oh… don’t get me wrong. There are some dark themes (infidelity, spousal abuse) in the movie, but are dealt with charm, finesse and much needed humor, as are the characters that embody those themes.
We see Cheryl Hines’s Becky trapped in a dysfunctional marriage (and ends up having an affair with her boss). We see Adrienne Shelly’ mousy Dawn who always looks down on her appearance and can’t find love and companionship. We also see Keri Russell ’s Jenna (the waitress from the poster of the movie) and her baggage (unwanted pregnancy, abusive husband and affair with her doctor) oh and let’s not forget Mal Raynolds in scrubs and white coat.
Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures
I can’t tell if it’s the white coat/protective attitude of Dr. Palmeter character or if it was down to the fact that it was Fillion in that character (I just adore Nathan), my heart melted in every scene that involved Dr. Palmeter and Jenna. But what also impressed me in this movie was the friendship and the bond that was formed between the 3 waitresses in Joe’s Pie Diner. No nonsense bond, filled with love, respect for each other, and with a touch of the southern charm and wittiness of course.
And now let me get to the good stuff. The baking scenes. Oh, what glorious scenes are they. In fact the very first intro scene of the movie starts with an assortment of pies being by the main character Jenna. The images of the oozing hot dark chocolate being drop in the pie crust are stuck in my head ever since I first watched the movie, and frankly my mouth salivates every time I see Waitress. It’s been 10 years of heavy breathing and tummy groaning during those baking scenes. A sweet sweet torture.
But if there is one great and underrated scene in the entire movie (and the one that gets me to cry like a baby every time) is the one in the kitchen when Dr. Palmeter comes to visit heavily pregnant Jenna and asks her to teach him how to make a pie.
Dear baby, she says in voice over. I hope that someday somebody wants to hold you for 20 minutes straight. And that’s all they do. They don’t pull away, they don’t look at your face, and they don’t try to kiss you. All they do I wrap you in their arms without an ounce of selfishness to it.
If you haven’t seen it ever, I urge you to watch Waitress. You won’t regret it. If you haven’t seen it in a long time, go ahead and check it out again. It’s sweet and lovely as those pies that Keri Russel makes in Waitress.
Image via Fox Searchlight Pictures
