Ralph's Movie Reviews: WAITRESS

Sunday, May 13, 2007

WAITRESS

Romantic comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS
Keri Russell: Jenna, waitress in Joe's Pie Diner and master pie-maker
Cheryl Hines: Becky, the “brassy waitress” in this small-town diner
Adrienne Shelly: Dawn, the “wallflower waitress”
Jeremy Sisto: Jenna’s husband Earl
Nathan Fillion: Dr. Pomater, the new doctor in town
Andy Griffith: the diner’s eponymous owner, crotchety Old Joe
Eddie Jemison: Ogie, Dawn's blind date

REVIEW
Right from the get-go it seems like we’re watching a sit-com. But beneath the appearance of a lightweight comedy there are serious issues being brought to light. There are no real belly laughs but quite a few chuckles although there are some uncomfortable moments too.

The casting is right on and the acting consistently good, particularly by Andy Griffin who fits the role perfectly.

CLASSIFICATION

for sexual content, language and thematic elements.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY
Jenna wears an apron with a narrow pouch for the Guest Check Pad she uses to take the order. Becky and Dawn give her a small scrapbook which she slides into the pouch which has conveniently grown twice as large.

P.S.
While working on post-production for the film, director\writer\co-star Adrienne Shelly got into a confrontation with an illegal immigrant who was making noise in the apartment below her. Diego Pillco, 19, confessed that he fought with Shelly and accidentally killed her. He has been charged with murder. She was 40-years old.

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my ratings system

I've always thought that telling too much about a movie or warning someone about a "twist" at the end deprives the person the pleasure of seeing it as it unfolds, so I don’t do it. You may not always agree with my rating of course, but at least it is an unbiased opinion unlike some of the full time professional reviewers who are on the studio’s payroll.

A few movies you won’t see any review from me:

Scary movies: I’m the world’s biggest chicken and just hate getting the crap scared out of me. I can handle an unexpected door slam, that kind of thing, but a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat…not for me. Sorry.
Movies geared to the young teen and pre-teen crowd with dialog comprising mostly of crude remarks, awful jokes and lots of rude, socially unacceptable body noises. "The Spy that Shagged Me" comes to mind. (I wonder if the kids know what the British verb to shag someone really means? They probably do; I bet you it’s the parents who haven’t a clue).
Sometimes Hollywood gets on a roll and they produce a series of movies that are all very much alike. For example movies about the CIA were very popular and so we had The Bourne Identity and Bad Company and The Sum of All Fears. They all had the same basic theme and it becomes repetitive. I will see some, but not all of them.

FYI this is my rating system:

0 stars = Terrible: so bad it’s not worth talking about; in fact, I’d pay you not to go
= Lousy: I actually got up and walked out before the end it was just that bad (no kidding)
= Not so good: thought about walking out but hung in just in case it got better (but it didn’t)
= A so-so good movie: I enjoyed it somewhat but wasn’t all that crazy about it
= A really good movie: I recommend seeing it
= An excellent movie you just got to see! I suggest you put it on your "To Do List" it’s that good.

some favourite websites

For those into it, Nitpickers at

has more movie mistakes than you could ever imagine. My contributions can be seen if you check out the Nitpickers Registry and click on the link Nitpickers Listed by Nitpicker Number, select the group 45,401 - 45,500 and drill down to number 45411. Although I have 56 nitpicks to my credit, some have almost 2,000. You wonder sometimes where they find the time to do it.