The Waitress

"Waitress" is a happily oddball comedy with well-written characters and a charming, offbeat tone.

It's about Jenna (Keri Russel), a deeply unhappy woman trapped in a dysfunctional marriage. Jenna works at a diner in the deep south, and hates her life. Determined to escape her dreary reality, she spends her days dreaming up new pie recipes, naming them after the ups and downs of her life.

"Waitress" is an appealing combination of quirky jokes and genuinely felt drama. In some ways this film is quite brave. The unflinching portrayal of sadness has a rawness about it. Jenna's discomfort and occasional disgust at the stranger growing inside her is an unselfconsciously honest look at an aspect of pregnancy that is generally taboo.

This likable small-town comedy is made poignant by its tragic context. The shocking and inexplicable murder of writer and director Adrienne Shelly, who also stars as Dawn, is eerily unbelievable. Shelly wrote the script while pregnant and has said that "Waitress" was essentially a love letter to her only daughter, Sophie. Though the film was complete at the time of Shelly's death she will never know that her film was selected for Sundance.

"Waitress" was made with a lot of love. The script as well as the production have a finely crafted finesse about them. The pie theme is attentively realised, the characters are sharply drawn and it seems to hum with homemade goodness.

It's not until the end that "Waitress" disintegrates into regrettable sentimentality, ultimately making it cheesier than Jenna's 'I Don't Want Earl's Baby' pie - a quiche of egg and cheese with a smoked ham centre. If you can forgive the ending this is well worth your time.