Critic Reviews
Waitress (2007) Rank 5 Reviews
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eFilmCritic.com (Eugene Novikov)
The title character in Adrienne Shellyâs WAITRESS is a marvel. Kind, talented, and cute as a button, Jenna (Keri Russell) is such a catch that her profoundly unhappy existence is difficult to believe. Surely, we think, someone like her need not slave ...read the complete Waitress movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Eugene Novikov)
eFilmCritic.com (Katharine Leis)
Waitress begins by throwing the audience directly into the plight of Jenna (Keri Russell), a beautiful, late-twenties waitress whose tragic sigh of an expression permeates the majority of the film. Jenna is married to Earl (Jeremy Sisto), the ...read the complete Waitress movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Katharine Leis)
eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
I'm sure that part of my emotional response to Waitress comes from the tragic news surrounding its release. Long story short: Actress / writer / director Adrienne Shelly was murdered less than six months ago, which makes the arrival of her final (and ...read the complete Waitress movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
When you walk into a small-town diner and your stomach wants to expand to abosrb every individual taste conceivable in the lineup of pies on display, chances are they were made by someone like Jenna (Keri Russell). Pies are her speciality, passed down ...read the complete Waitress movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
MovieWeb (Francine Brokaw)
Kerri Russell stars as Jenna, a young wife of an abusive and controlling husband (Jeremy Sisto). Jenna is the "queen of kindness and goodness," as one of her friends tells her. When she discovers she is pregnant by her despicable and domineering husband ...read the complete Waitress movie review at MovieWeb (Francine Brokaw)
kids-in-mind
A young woman (Keri Russell) desperate to get away from her controlling and abusive husband dreams of entering and winning a $25,000 pie contest and opening her own restaurant. However, when she realizes that she is pregnant, she tries to figure out what ...read the complete Waitress movie review at kids-in-mind
The Hollywood Reporter
It's not because it doesn't deliver -- it's a terrific Southern comedy that goes down as smoothly as a mint julep on a sultry afternoon.
Rather, it's that its director, screenwriter and co-star Adrienne Shelly, who was killed in her New York condo in ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Hollywood Reporter
Cinema Blend
Many people will say that Waitress, her final film, is only getting positive press because of the controversy surrounding it. And while itâs true that fewer people would know of its existence otherwise, it doesnât change the fact that this is a ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Cinema Blend
Cinematical (James Rocchi)
There's a shadow over Waitress -- the November 2006 murder of writer-director Adrienne Shelly, which came after production and the film was submitted to Sundance, but before Shelly could be informed of the film's acceptance at the Festival. And that's a ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Cinematical (James Rocchi)
Time Out New York
Whether you end up loving or loathing the late Adrienne Shellyâs lukewarm romantic dramedy about a down-and-out pregnant diner worker (Russell), one thing is uncontestable: This movie is a dieterâs nightmare. Like every fable in which food acts as a ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Time Out New York
The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
There was significant buzz around "Waitress" when it played at Sundance in January. Its writer and director, Adrienne Shelly, had been murdered two months earlier, and some of us wondered if the film was being picked up for distribution simply because it ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Land of Eric (Eric D. Snider)
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
A young woman (Keri Russell) with a talent for baking delicious pies finds the strength to deal with her unhappy marriage in this sweet-and-savory independent comedy. Writer, director and co-star Adrienne Shelly -- who died under tragic circumstances ...read the complete Waitress movie review at U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
FirstShowing.net (Jaq Greenspon)
Sometimes, as a critic, there are films you don't want to review. Not because they are bad, but because they are good. Waitress is one of those films. I so thoroughly enjoyed myself at this film, I don't want to have to put on my critic cap and point out ...read the complete Waitress movie review at FirstShowing.net (Jaq Greenspon)
Preview Family Movie Review
A waitress has a dream of a better life. But doggone it, life keeps getting in the way. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Preview Family Movie Review
The Cinema Source (Brian DePasquale)
Jenna only likes to do one thing in the world and that is to make pies. It is her only happiness in an unhappy life. At home, she is pregnant with her husband Earlâs child but she does not love him or the unborn baby that they conceived during ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Cinema Source (Brian DePasquale)
eFilmCritic.com (Brian Orndorf)
Adrienne Shellyâs âWaitressâ has so much more going for it than what the surface suggests. Past the white picket fences and beneath the gee-willickers exterior lies a romantic comedy that leads with a passion and honesty few in the genre even ...read the complete Waitress movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Brian Orndorf)
Film Journal International (Michael Rechtshaffen)
Waitress is a frustrating film. It's not because it doesn't deliver--it's a terrific Southern comedy that goes down as smoothly as a mint julep on a sultry afternoon. Rather, it's that its director, screenwriter and co-star Adrienne Shelly, who was ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Film Journal International (Michael Rechtshaffen)
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
When watching films, I try very hard to see them as art. I try to be open-minded enough to see that, even if the content is offensive, the artists creating it could have had deeper reasonsâdeeper meaning.
Anyone who has really seen a trailer for ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Christian Spotlight on the Movies
eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
I'm sure that part of my emotional response to Waitress comes from the tragic news surrounding its release. Long story short: Actress / writer / director Adrienne Shelly was murdered less than six months ago, which makes the arrival of her final (and ...read the complete Waitress movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Scott Weinberg)
eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
When you walk into a small-town diner and your stomach wants to expand to abosrb every individual taste conceivable in the lineup of pies on display, chances are they were made by someone like Jenna (Keri Russell). Pies are her speciality, passed down ...read the complete Waitress movie review at eFilmCritic.com (Erik Childress)
FromTheBalcony (Bill Clark)
It's the kind of sly, witty independent gem that rolls through every few years, lighting up crowds and forcing men to admit they were wrong when they thought they were being dragged to another chick flick. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at FromTheBalcony (Bill Clark)
Boxoffice Magazine (Ray Greene)
Waitress is a real actors movie, with each part written with great elan to have its own psychology and even its own dialect. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Boxoffice Magazine (Ray Greene)
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (David Conti)
To borrow a cliche, finding enjoyment in the delectable "Waitress" is as easy as pie.
Teetering between a comedy and a drama, writer-director Adrienne Shelly's final film, centered on the characters in and around a rural pie diner, is all-the-way ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (David Conti)
Wall Street Journal (Joe Morgenstern)
Every day of her working life at a diner in a small Southern town, Jenna, the lovelorn heroine of "Waitress," bakes a new pie of her own invention. Jenna's creations are her gift to the world. When she isn't baking pies that look and taste sublime, she's ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Wall Street Journal (Joe Morgenstern)
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
At one point or another in our lives, we get stuck. No matter what we do, we can't seem to push or pull ourselves ahead. Our wheels spin and spin while we fret and grow ever more anxious. It is so hard to change. Think about all the effort and ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Filmjerk.com (Brian Orndorf)
Adrienne Shelly's "Waitress" has so much more going for it than what the surface suggests. Past the white picket fences and beneath the gee-willickers exterior lies a romantic comedy that leads with a passion and honesty few in the genre even bother to ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Filmjerk.com (Brian Orndorf)
eFilmCritic Reviews
Waitress is filled with the sorts of quirks and gimmicks that seem insufferably precious on paper, but that work precisely because the film returns time and again to this small but vital kernel of truth. We look at Jenna, her awful, self-absorbed, ...read the complete Waitress movie review at eFilmCritic Reviews
Compuserve (Harvey S. Karten)
If education is a race between education and catastrophe as someone once said, then one battle that was clearly lost affected Adrienne Shelly. The gifted writer, director and actress was brutally murdered last year in her Manhattan apartment by an ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Compuserve (Harvey S. Karten)
The Onion A.V. Club
It's hard to look at Waitress, the final film of actress-turned-writer/director Adrienne Shelly, straight on. It aims, and sometimes strains, to be a brightly colored, life-affirming comedy, the kind in which friendship and determination can overcome ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Onion A.V. Club
filmdeculte.com (Marlène Weil-Masson)
Assassinée en novembre dernier dans son appartement de Greenwich Village, Adrienne Shelly n'a jamais su que son film avait été choisi par les programmateurs du Festival de Sundance, et n'a ainsi pu voir l'accueil chaleureux réservé par le public. A ...read the complete Waitress movie review at filmdeculte.com (Marlène Weil-Masson)
Christian Science Monitor
After losing his job, Terry Allen (Peter Krause) has plenty of time to watch TV, where a constant stream of reportage prods him to spy on an Arab neighbor and to share his suspicions with an FBI agent. When the government's response is less than ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Christian Science Monitor
Just Press Play
It's odd, but Keri Russell was on television for about 4 years and I never watched her show. Not once. Felicity and I ne'er crossed paths. I didn't think twice about watching that show. I merely figured there were other more talented shows being ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Just Press Play
Anybody who read my recent review of Fabián Bielinskyâs stultifying The Aura in these pages knows that I donât award bonus points to the recently deceased. So it was with some trepidation that I headed to a press screening of Waitress, the movie Adri ...read the complete Waitress movie review at
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
Keri Russell is delectable as the star of "Waitress," a blissfully daft ensemble comedy. She plays Jenna, a restaurant worker in the movie version of the Deep South -- where all the women are sassy, all the small-town characters are quirky and all the ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
Austin Chronicle (Marrit Ingman)
I first saw Adrienne Shelly in 1989, starring in Hal Hartleyâs micro-indie The Unbelievable Truth at Houstonâs Landmark River Oaks Theatre. Shelly was a rarity among women in that age: She was blond, she was beautiful, yet she seemed truly weird, ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marrit Ingman)
Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
There's a sharp edge that makes this film much more than a female-empowerment comedy. The late writer-direct-actor Shelly astutely examines mother-daughter issues, keeping us laughing before delivering her emotional gut-punch of a finale.
Jenna ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Shadows on the Wall (Rich Cline)
hoopla.nu
In Waitress writer/director Adrienne Shelly crafts a whimsical tale around a character filled with such sorrow it is hard to imagine she sees any light amidst the darkness of her life. That we are lucky enough to spend some time with her is thanks to ...read the complete Waitress movie review at hoopla.nu
filmcritic.com (Jesse Hassenger)
Keri Russell had a certain low-key, empathetic quality as the sensitive coed on the WB series Felicity, but nothing about that whispery, earnest role indicated she could carry a movie herself, especially as a different character altogether. In Waitress ...read the complete Waitress movie review at filmcritic.com (Jesse Hassenger)
Cute and quirky, WAITRESS is a delicious little movie that will have you savoring every tasty morsel. Its on-going joke, which miraculously never gets stale, concerns the intertwining of the title character's pie creating skills with her thought ...read the complete Waitress movie review at
USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Waitress (* * *1/2 out of four) serves up an irresistible helping of delicious fun with writing that is tart and sharp and a story infused with sweetness.
Keri Russell is pitch-perfect as Jenna, a small-town gal with an engaging mix of cynicism and ...read the complete Waitress movie review at USA Today (Claudia Puig)
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
The quirkily beautiful actress Adrienne Shelly, with her oversized eyes and lips, made a striking debut in Hal Hartley's early films The Unbelievable Truth (1990) and Trust (1991) and quickly established herself as someone too intelligent and singular to ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Hollywood.com
For waitress Jenna (Keri Russell), life is pieâbut thatâs strictly in culinary terms, not metaphorical. In fact, life is anything but easy or exciting for her: She spends every day working for a boss (Lew Temple) she hates before going home to a ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Hollywood.com
Cute and quirky, WAITRESS is a delicious little movie that will have you
savoring every tasty morsel. Its on-going joke, which miraculously never
gets stale, concerns the intertwining of the title character's pie creating
skills with her thought ...read the complete Waitress movie review at
The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Stuck in a marriage to a man she loathes, inconveniently pregnant with his child, oppressed by long hours waiting tables for a grouchy boss, Jenna finds relief baking pies. As lovingly filmed as they are made, these creations serve as both therapy and ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Philadelphia City Paper
A sunny comedy with a tragic backstory, Adrienne Shelly's final film is an untrammeled delight, with sunny good humor and perfectly pitched performances. Positing an adulterous romance between Keri Russell's glum-pie waitress and Nathan Fillion's ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Philadelphia City Paper
Film Blather (Eugene Novikov)
The title character in Adrienne Shellyâs Waitress is a marvel. Kind, talented, and cute as a button, Jenna (Keri Russell) is such a catch that her profoundly unhappy existence is difficult to believe. Surely, we think, someone like her need not slave ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Film Blather (Eugene Novikov)
Variety (Dennis Harvey)
Jenna (Keri Russell) is a "pie genius," having inherited her late mother's gift for thinking up scrumptiously imaginative baked goods. (The desserts provide a mouth-watering visual motif thanks to Matthew Irving's heightened-color lensing.) Each day, her ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Variety (Dennis Harvey)
FirstShowing.net (Alex Billington)
Although a number of always wonderful romances come out every year, Waitress sticks out above the rest... ...read the complete Waitress movie review at FirstShowing.net (Alex Billington)
ComingSoon.net (Edward Douglas)
Cute, sweet and witty ... it certainly will leave you wanting more and saddened that this was Shelly's last. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at ComingSoon.net (Edward Douglas)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sweet and sour and sexy, the final film by actress-turned-filmmaker Adrienne Shelly is a tartly enjoyable slice of romantic comedy served up with a dramatic bite. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer
World Socialist Web Site
Only a few months before her film Waitress was accepted by the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, 40-year-old American director Adrienne Shelly was tragically murdered in New York City, a victim of the desperate state of social relations in the US. Her demise ...read the complete Waitress movie review at World Socialist Web Site
Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
A quirky comedy with emotional impact. One of my favorite genres actually. Tight direction, strong dialogue, good acting. Imagine the Coen brothers directing Alice at Melâs Diner. Itâs a study of one womanâs attempts to cope with a desperately ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Slate (Dana Stevens)
A week after seeing Waitress, I still tear up when I think of its closing theme, a catchy little lullaby about pies that was co-written by the movie's writer, director, and co-star, actress Adrienne Shelly (Trust, The Unbelievable Truth). Shelly was ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Slate (Dana Stevens)
Tiscali UK
A celebration of the power of pies, Waitress is an offbeat, touching and funny look at one woman's culinary escape from domestic hell. From the salivating opening credits to the closing dedication, Waitress is steeped in the single-minded and gifted ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Tiscali UK
Chicago Tribune (Geoff Berkshire)
Finding exactly the right recipe for a quirky, sweet-natured comedy is deceptively difficult. Add a little too much eccentric behavior and the characters won't have a well-rounded flavor. Lean too heavily on sentimentality and audiences will gag on the ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Chicago Tribune (Geoff Berkshire)
Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
âWaitressâ is a brilliantly written, acted and directed romantic comedy that is funny, insightful, heartwarming, original and highly satisfying. It reminds me a bit of âFried Green Tomatoes,â but it is better than that. It has to do sex, friendshi ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
The Movie Chicks
Jenna (Keri Russell) is pregnant, but sheâs not at all happy about it â and she isnât afraid to let people know. Everyone at the diner knows her husband Earl (Jeremy Sisto) is a no-good sumbitch and a control freak. She was saving money to leave him ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Movie Chicks
New York Times (A.O. Scott)
With Waitress, Adrienne Shelly tamed and shaped realism, finding a perfect, difficult-to-achieve balance of enchantment and plausibility. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at New York Times (A.O. Scott)
ReelzChannel (Heather Huntington)
Her last work, Waitress, is a sunny romantic comedy about a small town waitress named Jenna (Keri Russell) with a flare for baking unusually-named and remarkably tasty pies. Only the friendship with her two coworkers, the spitfire Becky (Cheryl Hines) ...read the complete Waitress movie review at ReelzChannel (Heather Huntington)
Empire Magazine [UK]
For the love of all thatâs delicious, do not go into this movie on an empty stomach, unless youâre happy to chew wetly on the dandruff-encrusted headrest of the seat in front of you.
Waitress is a film that expresses its emotions through food, and ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Empire Magazine [UK]
Pop Syndicate (Stefan Halley)
an outstanding, enjoyable movie that is well worth seeing ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Pop Syndicate (Stefan Halley)
The New York Times ()
Shelly, who wrote and directed âWaitressâ (and who plays one of Jennaâs co-workers), demonstrates a similar confectionary gift. The movie, her third and last feature before she was murdered in November, blends familiar elements into something both s ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The New York Times ()
Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
This may not seem like the most objective critical standard to apply, but one of the most remarkable things about Waitress â even the title's a tip-off â was that it did not make me barf.
On the contrary. Despite the fact that it's a faux-blue coll ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Waitress is a pleasant dramatic comedy that overcomes its tonal inconsistencies by presenting an engaging lead character with whom its virtually impossible not to empathize. The film makes its share of missteps, occasionally feeling a lot like a sit-com ...read the complete Waitress movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
The Dallas Morning News
Wisely, or perhaps just luckily, built around Keri Russell's funny, heartfelt and utterly discombobulated portrayal of a small-town table jockey named Jenna, the movie is quite engaging whenever it's charting the character's frustrating stumbles toward ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Dallas Morning News
Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
"Waitress" is a blithe indie about three waitresses and their romantic problems in a small Southern town--with the main focus on discontented, pregnant "pie genius" Jenna (Keri Russell). Written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly, it's a ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
Plugged In
Forrest Gump's mama always said life is like a box of chocolates. Jenna believes life is like a slice of pie.
Make that hundreds of slices. Thousands. Chicago Lonely Pie. Marshmallow Mermaid Pie. Kick in the Pants Pie. Pregnant Miserable Self-Pitying ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Plugged In
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
What makes "Waitress" so enjoyable goes beyond the baking clichés to the fresh - and now silenced - voice of independent filmmaker Adrienne Shelly. Her characters are at the same time comfortably familiar and unpredictable. Her script is big-hearted and ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
The New York Times
Stuck in a marriage to a man she loathes, inconveniently pregnant with his child, oppressed by long hours waiting tables for a grouchy boss, Jenna finds relief baking pies. As lovingly filmed as they are made, these creations serve as both therapy and ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The New York Times
Philadelphia Daily News (Gary Thompson)
"Waitress" stars Keri Russell as a pie-baking genius who would never describe anything as "easy as pie."
For Russell's character, Jenna, a pie whiz/waitress at a country diner, pie is life, and life - in all of its disappointments, ironies and ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Philadelphia Daily News (Gary Thompson)
Exclaim!
With Waitress, writer/director/co-star Adrienne Shelly serves up a delicious slice of rom-com pie with weighty dollops of poignancy in what is tragically her final work following her disturbing murder in November 2006.
Keri Russell is refreshingly ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Exclaim!
The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Stuck in a marriage to a man she loathes, inconveniently pregnant with his child, oppressed by long hours waiting tables for a grouchy boss, Jenna finds relief baking pies. Adrienne Shelly, who wrote and directed âWaitressâ (and who plays one of Jenna ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
IT'S impossible at this point to separate "Waitress," a charming little bitter sweet Southern comedy by the late Adrienne Shelly, from the tragic circumstances surrounding the filmmaker's demise.
Shelly, who as an actress served as a muse for indie ...read the complete Waitress movie review at New York Post (Lou Lumenick)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
This sweetheart of a comedy boasts a hilarious and heartfelt performance by Keri Russell as Jenna, a small-town waitress who gets pregnant by her abusive husband, Earl (Jeremy Sisto), and expresses her feelings through pastry, like her ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Moviehole (Paul Fischer)
Waitress is a sublime work, full of infectious humour, a great soundtrack and a spellbinding performance by the exquisite Ms Russell. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Moviehole (Paul Fischer)
The Age
The senseless murder of the actor and filmmaker Adrienne Shelly unavoidably overshadows the final film that she wrote and directed, a low-budget comedy-drama set around a small-town "pie diner" in a fanciful version of the American South.
In between ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Age
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
If it's possible, "Waitress" makes even sadder the already tragic murder of actress/filmmaker Adrienne Shelly last year.
This comedy â Shelly's third and final feature-length project as a writer/director â shows quite a bit of promise, ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Film School Rejects (Chris Beaumont)
This is a movie that will put a smile on your face and a grumble in your tummy. Waitress is a sweet film that moves at a poetic pace through the dramatic comedy landscape. It successfully brings a lead character to empathize with. I found it near ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Film School Rejects (Chris Beaumont)
L.A. Daily News
Sometimes one really fine performance can save a whole movie, and that's the case with "Waitress."
Wisely, or perhaps just luckily, built around Keri Russell's funny, heartfelt and utterly discombobulated portrayal of a small-town table jockey named ...read the complete Waitress movie review at L.A. Daily News
Entertainment Insiders (Warren Curry)
Unfortunately, the arrival of late writer/director/actress Adrienne Shelly's final film, "Waitress," threatens to be overshadowed by the story of her tragic murder last fall in New York City. Perhaps previously best known for starring roles in two films ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Entertainment Insiders (Warren Curry)
Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
On the contrary. Despite the fact that it's a faux-blue collar (Southern-accented even) chick flick in the high-quirk mode, wherein Keri Russell plays a frustrated small-town baker of such inner-life-revealing confections as I Hate My Husband Pie, the I ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Toronto Star (Geoff Pevere)
Reel.com
It's impossible to watch the sweet comedy Waitress without being haunted by the fact that its writer, director, and co-star Adrienne Shelly was tragically murdered last fall, just three months before the film premiered at Sundance. It's also clear to see ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Reel.com
The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
Itâs funny how we can go from a comedy about molestation -- Garry Marshallâs repulsive Georgia Rule -- thatâs not just desperately unfunny but actively disgusting to a comedy about professionally unethical behavior, spousal abuse, adultery, and ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Flick Filosopher (MaryAnn Johanson)
Leonard Maltin's Picks
Waitress is the kind of film that renews my faith in movies. After months of mediocrityâwith a few exceptions scattered here and thereâalong comes a movie thatâs as fresh as the pies its main character bakes every morning. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Leonard Maltin's Picks
Boston Globe
Some of us fell in love with Adrienne Shelly right out of the gate. Her first movie, director Hal Hartley's "The Unbelievable Truth" (1989), gave her to us fully formed, a unique, self-possessed creature immediately at home in the pop landscape. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Boston Globe
Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)
There's a scene a little more than midway through Waitress where writer/director Adrienne Shelly seems to be challenging the audience not to fall in love with Keri Russell in this role. She is teaching her gynecologist/lover how to bake a pie, and she ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)
Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Itâs time for indie film-lovers to loosen their collective belts a notch or two. âWaitressâ â writer-director Adrienne Shellyâs sugar-sweet tale of a small-town girl moved to confront her loveless marriage by a surprise pregnancy - is destined ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Big Picture Big Sound (Joe Lozito)
Ruthless Reviews
On Nov. 1, 2006, actress and filmmaker Adrienne Shelly was murdered in her New York apartment by a 19-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant, who later confessed to the crime despite the fact that at first, Shellyâs death was ruled a suicide. These are the ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Ruthless Reviews
Moviepie.com
Jenna (Keri Russell) is an unhappily married waitress with a gift for making the most delicious pie you've ever tasted. If she can just make it to the Pillsbury Bake Off, she's almost certain to win, and with her winnings, she could leave Earl (Jeremy ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Moviepie.com
Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Keri Russell sheds her Felicity-esque coed in favor of a woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Well, sort of. Jenna (Russell) is a cook and waitperson at cozy Joe's Pie Diner, a woman for whom the seductive art of baking is an emotional retreat ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
RopeofSilicon (Brad Brevet)
I am not at all familiar with writer-director Adrienne Shelly, but after seeing her performance in Waitress, a film she also wrote and directed it is heartbreaking to learn that she was murdered only six months ago as her final film hits theaters. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at RopeofSilicon (Brad Brevet)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
If director Shelly's own life hadn't been cut short (she was murdered last fall), "Waitress" might have been dismissed as a small serving of whimsy. But like the tart and fizzy Jenna, it's actually a pantry of potential, which makes the lack of a second ...read the complete Waitress movie review at St. Louis Post-Dispatch
San Francisco Chronicle
There's a lot to be said about "Waitress," but perhaps the first thing that needs to be said is that the accolades it's receiving are not some sentimental response to the death of its writer-director, Adrienne Shelly. The film is a revelation, and the ...read the complete Waitress movie review at San Francisco Chronicle
Village Voice (Nathan Lee)
Mildly quirky and zealously cute, Adrienne Shelly's Waitress is the story of three irrepressible gal pals slinging pie and shooting the shit in a postcard-perfect small town diner. Bearing their sitcom burdens lightly, they are: Becky (Cheryl Hines), the ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Village Voice (Nathan Lee)
Salon (Stephanie Zacharek)
There are times when the spirit of a movie is enough to get you gliding over its obvious flaws. "Waitress," which was directed by the late Adrienne Shelly, is one of those pictures. The movie takes place in a mythical somewhere-in-the-South town, a place ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Salon (Stephanie Zacharek)
EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
A superb turn from Kerri Russell and a strong one from Nathan Fillion aren't enough to redeem the cloying sentiment and Southern condescension of the last film of Adrienne Shelly; her tragic death last year abrupted the career of a promising artist. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at EmanuelLevy.com (Emanuel Levy)
The Arizona Republic
Laying on the charm, Keri Russell (TV's Felicity) stars as Jenna, an unhappily married "pie genius" whose dream of running away to start a new life evaporates when her home pregnancy test turns pink. She feels nothing but dread over her impending ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Arizona Republic
The Sydney Morning Herald
Jenna is a waitress with a passion for baking pies. The act of filling pastry cases with rivers of raspberry syrup, lakes of chocolate sauce and ridges of pecan nuts induces in her a state of profound contentment.
Watching her, it has to be said, I ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Sydney Morning Herald
Boxoffice Magazine
Calling a movie âquirkyâ sounds like a putdown or a damning-with-faint-praise, but thatâs only because itâs a term often used by critics reacting to insincere and straining movies that overlay mannerism on thin characters just to be cute. What ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Boxoffice Magazine
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
The late Adrienne Shelly, who was killed in a brutal murder after complaining to a construction worker about the noise he was making in the office below, is best known as an actress from Hal Hartley films (especially Trust and The Unbelievable Truth). ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Video Reviews with Joan Ellis
Jenna (Keri Russell) is a waitress at Joeâs Pie Diner, and thatâs all thatâs ordinary about this movie. In an odd mixture of sharply funny and oddly sentimental exchanges the script is wonderfully unashamed of manipulating us. Its public success is ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Video Reviews with Joan Ellis
Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Call this Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore for a new generation, with this tale of a diner waitress, the grouchy cook, co-workers both sassy and meek, and a woman who finds a sense of her self amid all of the trials and tribulations. Even if the main ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Qwipster's Movie Reviews (Vince Leo)
Cinematical (Nick Schager)
Regrettably but inevitably, Waitress's tenacious optimism is partially offset by the recent, tragic murder of its writer/director/co-star Adrienne Shelly, an actress who made her name in Hal Hartley's early indies and, with this funny, charming slice of ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Cinematical (Nick Schager)
Box Office Prophets
When we last saw Keri Russell, a bomb had exploded in her brain, causing her eyes to go all loco, as she died in Tom Cruise's arms in Mission: Impossible III. There are somewhat fewer exploding brains in her latest movie, Waitress, the slight but ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Box Office Prophets
BBC Films
A truly terrific turn from Russell is what makes Waitress worth watching; her ability to switch seamlessly between comedic and poignant moments makes her impossible to dislike. In the same way that Sideways used wine as a metaphor, Jenna's emotions are ...read the complete Waitress movie review at BBC Films
In "Waitress", the slice-of-life that the film presents in a little Southern town is like a pie that is low in fat, low on fillers, and yet possesses a naturally sweet flavor. It's not as bland as a quiche. It's not as confectionary as a Boston Cream Pie. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at
KYW Newsradio (Bill Wine)
What her customers want from her are just her desserts. What we want for her are her just deserts.
She's the winsome and sympathetic protagonist of the quirky, Southern-fried fairy tale Waitress, a screwball comedy with a melancholy ...read the complete Waitress movie review at KYW Newsradio (Bill Wine)
musicOMH (Anton Bitel)
It is advice that Adrienne Shelly might well have taken in what was tragically to be her last film before she was murdered in 2006. Cooking is at the very heart of Waitress, whose main character Jenna (Keri Russell) is an unhappy wife, a reluctant ...read the complete Waitress movie review at musicOMH (Anton Bitel)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A pregnant waitress is caught between her controlling husband and the new town doctor, with whom she is having a steamy affair. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chicago Tribune (Matt Pais)
When waitress and pie chef extraordinaire Jenna (Keri Russell) finds out she's pregnant, she reconsiders her plan to leave her abusive husband (Jeremy Sisto). At work, Jenna minds to the orders of the shop's owner (Andy Griffith) and hangs with fellow ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Chicago Tribune (Matt Pais)
Pop Entertainment.com
It is hard to take Waitress on its own values because even the lightest moments of this beautifully whimsical tale carries with it some horrific baggage. The tragic murder last November of writer/director/co-star Adrienne Shelly by a construction ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Pop Entertainment.com
The Movie Boy (Dustin Putman)
"Waitress" has a tragic behind-the-scenes backstory. Writer-director-star Adrienne Shelly, 40, was murdered in her New York City apartment last November, only a little over two months before her film was to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Shelly, ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Movie Boy (Dustin Putman)
Orlando Weekly (John Thomason)
A pregnant waitress and expert pie artist (Keri Russell) at a local dessert shop fantasizes about future pie concoctions while fleeing her repulsive husband (a terrific Jeremy Sisto), having a fling with her doctor and engaging in artificially witty ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Orlando Weekly (John Thomason)
The Phantom Tollbooth
If the name of Adrienne Shelly sounds familiar, she is the actress/writer/director who was murdered in her office in the fall of 2006. A construction worker now awaits trial. Shelly is one of the stars of Waitress, playing Dawn, a rather shy girl who ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Phantom Tollbooth
PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
Earl has to die. Or maybe not. The Earl (Jeremy Sisto) who lives inside Waitress, a universe untouched by the wondrous Dixie Chicks, is as stupid, cruel and crabby as the other Earl. But he is surrounded by shiny brightnessâbright pastels, bright ...read the complete Waitress movie review at PopMatters (Cynthia Fuchs)
Film Ireland
Television has the luxury, albeit an often misused one, of adding layers to characters and creating long-running story arcs evoking growth and development which can seldom be achieved within the standard running time of a movie. A sense of reality ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Film Ireland
cinemattraction (Brandon Fibbs)
Waitress is this yearâs little independent film that could. Like last yearâs breakout Sundance darling, Little Miss Sunshine, Waitress has everything that it takes to be the indie hit everyone will be talking about.
Keri Russell (Felicity, ...read the complete Waitress movie review at cinemattraction (Brandon Fibbs)
KYW Newsradio (Bill Wine)
Shelly has not only launched Russell's above-the-title movie career, but created a poignant portrait of workplace sisterhood and female empowerment in this moving legacy, a love letter to her real-life daughter that Shelly wrote when she was eight months ...read the complete Waitress movie review at KYW Newsradio (Bill Wine)
TIME Magazine (Richard Schickel)
Adrienne Shelly was murdered last November in her New York office. It was one of those stupefyingly banal crimes â the result of an argument with a construction worker â that preoccupy the tabloids and make the rest of us think long, hard and miserabl ...read the complete Waitress movie review at TIME Magazine (Richard Schickel)
Film Threat (Jeremy Mathews)
Full of off-kilter characters who don't talk like anyone in real life, but sound a truthful chord. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Film Threat (Jeremy Mathews)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
Keri Russell stars as Jenna, a waitress with a gift for pie-making who bakes at Joe's Diner and names each pie after events in her life. When she gets knocked up by her loutish husband Earl (Jeremy Sisto), the pie of the day is I Don't Want Earl's Baby ...read the complete Waitress movie review at ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
Genial and appealing...Keri Russell essays a heroine that is worth rooting for and caring about. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at TheMovieBoy.com (Dustin Putman)
One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
One is always reluctant to speak ill of the dead, but at the same time one shouldnât praise a work just because itâs posthumous. Thatâs the problem posed by this third film from the late actress Adrienne Shelly, who had moved on to writing and ...read the complete Waitress movie review at One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
"Waitress" is an odd and lovely film that takes clichéd situations and turns them into comedy of a sort - that is, if you think that a wife married to a pathologically controlling husband and getting pregnant one night when he got her drunk, then finding ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Movies 101 (Robert Glatzer)
Slant Magazine
drienne Shelly, whose brutal murder last year casts an uncomfortable pall over Waitress, was very much a student of Hal Hartley. Her tense compositional sense suggests someone else's influence, but in her ability to locate recognizable human feeling in ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Slant Magazine
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
There no way around it: Russell's performance is spunky and just about irresistible, no matter how much you hate spunk. It's hard to imagine Waitress working without her. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Mr. Cranky Rates the Movies
I'm pretty sure that if writer/director Adrienne Shelly had not been murdered in her New York office, this movie would not be getting anywhere near the reception it's getting. Hell, I bet it would never have been widely released. Fact is, Hollywood loves ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Mr. Cranky Rates the Movies
Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
With exaggerated caricatures creating a quirky yet engaging comedy, Adrienne Shelleyâs âWaitress,â is an entertaining film. As both writer and director, Shelley casts herself in one of the supporting roles and gives an endearing performance. The fi ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Cinema in Focus (Denny Wayman and Hal Conklin)
PopMatters
Earl has to die. Or maybe not. The Earl (Jeremy Sisto) who lives inside Waitress, a universe untouched by the wondrous Dixie Chicks, is as stupid, cruel and crabby as the other Earl. But he is surrounded by shiny brightnessâbright pastels, bright ...read the complete Waitress movie review at PopMatters
The Observer (Philip French)
It is almost impossible to look at Waitress without thinking of the bizarre circumstances of the death of its writer-director and co-star Adrienne Shelly. The 40-year-old Shelly, a prominent actress of American TV and independent cinema, was murdered ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Observer (Philip French)
Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
Did you ever send back an entree because you were dissatisfied with the taste? Consider me a dissatisfied customer with this wholly predictable, run of the mill story of the adorable heroine who is in an awful, abusive marriage, discovers she is pregnant ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
About.com (Marcy Dermansky)
Shelly's death makes me want to treat this movie with kid gloves, to root for it, turn it into something more than it is. ...read the complete Waitress movie review at About.com (Marcy Dermansky)
Time Out
Whether you end up loving or loathing the late Adrienne Shellyâs lukewarm romantic dramedy about a down-and-out pregnant diner worker (Russell), one thing is uncontestable: This movie is a dieterâs nightmare. Like every fable in which food acts as a ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Time Out
Time Out New York (David Fear)
Whether you end up loving or loathing the late Adrienne Shellyâs lukewarm romantic dramedy about a down-and-out pregnant diner worker (Russell), one thing is uncontestable: This movie is a dieterâs nightmare. Like every fable in which food acts as a ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Time Out New York (David Fear)
Apparently if you want to make it as a screenwriter in Hollywood these days, all you have to do is write a feminist diatribe chick flick and youâre in. This is just another in a growing list of recent films where all the women are wonderful, ...read the complete Waitress movie review at
Film School Rejects ("El Bicho")
Waitress is such a terrible creation I wanted to send it back to the kitchen. The characters are one-dimensional and poorly realized, the story is trite and clich©d, and the editing suffers from a sluggish pace and unnecessary moments. Except for the ...read the complete Waitress movie review at Film School Rejects ("El Bicho")
Letâs stipulate at the outset that there probably are husbands as loathsome Earl (Jeremy Sisto) who are married to wives who are as sweet as Jenna (Keri Russell), the central characters in Adrienne Shellyâs "Waitress." There may be even more ...read the complete Waitress movie review at
The Guardian (Peter Bradshaw)
Writer, performer and director Adrienne Shelly died last year in New York City at the age of 40, murdered by an itinerant construction worker. It was a horrible, arbitrary end to her fruitful creative life, and her long and honourable contribution to US ...read the complete Waitress movie review at The Guardian (Peter Bradshaw)
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