Waitress (2007)
#37 in my 2007 movie challenge was Adrienne Shelley’s Waitress. I feel cynical when I wonder if the reviews of this film are so effusive because Shelley was murdered before the film was released. It is a very good film, though. I was strongly reminded of the tone of Hal Hartley’s early films such as The Unbelievable Truth, which starred Shelley and that I saw at the Ritz in Philadelphia. It’s by turns bitter and sweet, like the chocolate called for in many of the movie’s pies. Keri Russell and her heart-shaped face are captivating as Jenna, a pie-inventing woman married to a controlling and abusive husband. Jeremy Sisto gives a chilling performance, all the more creepy because of his obvious love for Jenna.