In her early twenties Adrienne Shelly was the ultimate indie queen just as ‘indie’ was becoming quite the thing. As the star of Hal Hartley’s The Unbelievable Truth and Trust, she was gawky and beautiful, goofy and tragic, sweet and sulky, all at the same time. Those charming paradoxes also define Ms. Shelly’s third film as director, a down-home fairy-tale starring Keri Russell as a bus-girl with a flair for pie making and a pig of a husband.
As this impossibly sweet confection opens, our dear catastrophe waitress and her sassy co-workers (Shelly and Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Cheryl Hines) have retreated to the facilities for the administration of a home pregnancy kit. When the dread pink line appears, it’s a blow for Ms. Russell’s plucky heroine. She’s been praying that her magical gifts with desserts and all things crusted will allow her to escape to a new life. A baby, however, rather complicates matters.
It gets worse. After only two pre-natal check-ups she falls in love with the town’s dishy new gynaecologist (Fillion) and he with her. Meanwhile, supporting characters are off on arcs of their own. Cheryl Hines is harbouring a secret that doesn’t seem to involve her “cripple husband”. Adrienne Shelly is embarking on an affair with a man who resembles Pee Wee Herman’s weirder brother. Amidst these romantic commotions, only Andy Griffith (it’s Matlock, everybody!) is astute enough to see Ms. Russell for her true worth.
A feminist wish-fulfilment fantasy with a heart to match its slyly cerebral qualities, you’d need to be a fiercely impervious piece of work not to swoon for Waitress. The performances are delightful. The tone skips lightly across melancholy, euphoria and plain old hilarity. A dry you-want-potatoes-with-that voiceover reminds you of Rosanne Barr at the height of her powers.
Long after you’ve left the cinema, the fittingly unbelievable truth will hit you. Girlfriends? Romance? Pregnancy? Sensual sweets? That’s right. You’ve been lapping up a chick-flick.
Mostly, though, you’ll be thinking of Adrienne Shelly who wrote, directed and even designed the costumes and sets for the movie. This is, after all, a gushing valentine from a reluctant mom to her child. It would be lovely to think that Ms. Shelly’s own daughter, who lost her mother late last year, will someday get a kick out of it.