As much as I loved the female characters—Keri Russell’s Jenna, lost in a world of cold servitude to both her customers and her husband; Cheryl Hine’s Becky, whose loveless marriage forces her to find passion elsewhere; writer-director Adrienne Shelly’s wide-eyed Dawn, who becomes the object of an awkward poet’s affection—this film is purely Andy Griffith’s. As the demanding, foul-mouthed owner of the pie diner, Griffith plays the stereotypical kind-at-heart old man with noticeable ease. But his Old Joe also dispenses the life-learned wisdom that someone like Jenna needs to hear but doesn’t recognize as important; his confession at a wedding late in the film, in which he discusses what his life has meant in terms of love, is heartbreakingly honest. At the same time, his impromptu horoscope reading (combined with Jenna’s mental recipes) makes Waitress a wonderful little film that, had the filmmaker not been so talented, would have wandered directly into kitschy Hallmark territory.
by Adam Balz | Source: Fox Searchlight 35MM Theatrical Print
28 Jun 2007 10:20 PM | Submit Comment