I watched the movie Waitress yesterday and I have to give it a resounding two thumbs up!  I hadn’t even heard of it but it is actually a fairly recent movie starring Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion (who I loved from the Firefly series), Jeremy Sisto (from Six Feet Under who was absolutely fabulous as the scary husband in this movie) and even Andy Griffiths.

It is apparently a romantic comedy but I would not classify it as that at all. It definitely felt like a really enjoyable Indy film (and if you know me you know I don’t like very many indy films, or else I just haven’t seen the right ones).  It is quirky and real and yet has a bit of a whimsical feel to it.

Waitress is the story of Jenna, a small town woman married to an abusive and controlling man.  She works at a diner making pies (which is a highly entertaining part of the movie – Jenna gives her culinary creations fantastic names [ie. Pregnant Miserable Self-Pitying Loser Pie]) and waiting on tables.  She seems to be a gracious and caring individual, albeit unhappy. Her miserable life comes to a head when she discovers she is pregnant.  It is downright hilarious (I know it doesn’t sound like a funny movie by my description but you’ll just have to trust me) but yet true enough to life to be really poignant as well. The script is well written and the actors are phenomenal.

My favourite quote from the movie is a section narrated by Jenna. She has been writing a letter to her baby about her ambivalence about the pregnancy and questioning her ability to mother a child.

“Dear damn baby,

Iffen you ever want to know the story of how we bought your damn crib, I’ll tell you.   Your crib was bought with the money that was supposed to buy me a new life. Every time I lay you down in that damn crib I’m gonna think ‘Damn baby. Damn crib.  You’re stuck like a pin in this damn life’.”

It makes her sound like a terrible person but she is actually very sweet which is part of what made this part funny and heart-wrenching.

I highly recommend picking this one up.