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Reviews

Waitress

Serving happy endings

By BRETT MICHEL | May 9, 2007

3.0 Stars

VIDEO: Watch the trailer for Waitress.

In this posthumous release from writer/director/actress Adrienne Shelly (who was murdered last November, apparently by an illegal immigrant), Andy Griffith is still presiding over small-town America, but it sure as hell isn’t Mayberry. His Old Joe’s got his paternal eyes on Jenna (Keri Russell), a waitress at his diner. She’s a petite, pretty charmer, but she can’t see it, perhaps because she’s used to hearing “You ain’t never been sexy!” screamed at her by Earl (Jeremy Sisto), her controlling ogre of a husband. No wonder she’s taken up a hobby: inventing “Biblically good” pie recipes, such as “I hate my husband pie” and “I don’t want Earl’s baby pie.” Yes, she’s pregnant. Soon she finds herself engaged in a passionate affair with the “weird” (“he’s from Connecticut”), handsome new obstetrician in town, who’d be perfect if he weren’t so married. As Jenna’s face takes on a permanently affixed smile, the film almost earns its happy ending, a fate that eluded the promising Shelly.

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Topics: Reviews , Keri Russell, Andy Griffith, WAITRESS

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