Waitress

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"Just a pie? It's a thing of beauty," Jenna (Russell) is told by a regular customer of Joe's Diner when she produces another one of her tasty pies. The same goes for Waitress, the last movie to be written and directed by Adrienne Shelley (who plays the kooky Dawn here) before her death earlier this year, robbing the world of a talent that was just coming to fruition. When Jenna, a small town waitress unhappily married to the boorish and controlling Earl (Sisto), learns she's pregnant, the last thing she needs is to fall for her handsome gynaecologist Dr. Pomatter (Fillion). But fall in love she does, which, along with Earl's increasingly jealous nature, hampers her dreams of escape. Like Fargo or Withnail & I before it, Waitress is one of those films that'll get funnier with every viewing and the extremely quotable dialogue and hilarious character idiosyncrasies all point to the fact that this is a cult classic in-waiting (pun intended). The performances on show range from subtle to the outrageous. Russell finally makes the leap from TV to fully-fledged leading lady and with her endearing voiceover and her inventively named pies ("I'm-having-an-affair-pie," "Earl-please-don't-kill-me-pie," and my personal favourite, "Pregnant-miserable-self-loathing-pie"), Russell wins us over very easily. Russell is surrounded by sound character actors whose performances elevate them above mere supporting roles: Fillion can deliver a line, Sisto shows us both sides of a childish husband but it's Matlock's Andy Griffith that's in scene-stealing form as the tell-it-like-it-is, foul-mouthed Southern gent. With dialogue that's witty, sharp and observational without trying too hard to be either, and a love story that's achingly sweet and tender without pandering to cliche, Waitress is littered with interesting, thought-out characters that are a welcome antidote to the big budget blockbusters that have disappointed this summer.

Details: US / 107mins (15A).