Waitress

What a thoroughly enjoyable movie! It’s a bit quirky and offbeat. Innocence bubbles throughout the film and follows the changes over a year for waitress, Jenna. She bakes pies. She sees life differently but she’s stuck. Her work ethic’s close to a monk’s. She’s lonely. She hands money over to her husband. She hides a little bit for herself to get out of town when she can. But, a pregnancy comes knocking, along with a kind married doctor, and the plan flies further south than she can control. The film’s honest to its characters, moves quickly and provides a few touching moments. One scene in particular is when she asks the jerk of a store manager if he’s happy. His response is simple and told in words that are true for him. The only drawback is the film’s handling of “serious” scenes of her controlling husband riding the edge of physical abuse. They don’t play as well given the wide-eyed tone of the rest of the movie. But then again, maybe that’s the point. The ending is also a bit too neat given the mess of circumstances that come before it. Still, it’s a sweet and pleasingly sentimental movie.