| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
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| Story: |
B+ |
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| Acting: |
A+ |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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A great film and a good time.
by M (movies profile)
Mar 9, 2008
53
of
59 people found this review helpful
The performances are perfect, the direction is flawless, and the entire film succeeds spectacularly where so many before it have drifted into mediocrity.
The basic format of the story is as predictable as a Harlequin Romance novel: Jenna (Keri Russell) is a sweet woman who has trapped herself in a marriage to abusive husband Earl(Jeremy Sisto), but becomes involved with kind and caring Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion) who gives her the understanding and gentleness she was missing. Will Jenna find the strength to leave bad hubby and lead a happy life? And don't forget the gimmick: Jenna bakes unusual and amazing pies that reflect her life and emotions of the moment.
But Waitress walks the fine lines that keep it from being sickly sweet or simply ridiculous. Though some of the folksy dialogue falls heavily in the opening segments, the stereotypes begin to flesh out into real people with honest problems, defying the conventional through truly phenomenal performances by what would otherwise have been a cookie-cutter cast of "characters."
Earl is not just a controlling brute, but dangerously needy. Jenna is not just frightened of him, but also disgusted by him. Sisto plays Earl as a man who is not innately violent, but violently clingy.
Jenna is neither helpless nor sassy. She seems about as bewildered as one would expect at finding herself in such a predicament: wondering how she got there, trying to figure out an escape route, while trudging on with the mundanities of life. Unfortunately one of those mundanities includes an unplanned and entirely unwanted pregnancy. Which leads her to OB/Gyn Dr. Pomatter.
A lesser film would cast the good doctor as Jenna's saviour from a disappointing life, but Fillion's brilliant preformance makes it clear that Jenna is the driving force in both the story and relationship. Initially awkward and nervous, he is drawn to her and seems to find a comfort and calm that centers him even as it must be tearing him apart. He is breaking every taboo: a married man carrying on with a married pregnant woman who is also his patient. But Fillion and Russell's scenes together progress from uncomfortable to passionate to unspeakably tender with a surprisingly natural flow. Their comedic timing and dramatic ability combining to turn in two of the best performances we'll probably see all year.
The film's greatest strength, though, lies largely in its sense ownership. Jenna owns this movie. And by the end of it, she owns her life. |
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