“Waitress”: A Movie With a Heart in the Middle
I saw Waitress this week, which stars Keri Russell as Jenna, a talented creator of dozens
of delicious-looking pies. She is unhappily married to a loser named Earl, and in the first scene, she discovers that she is pregnant with their child. This is not good news to Jenna. She doesn’t want to be congratulated for getting pregnant the night Earl got her drunk: “Thanks, but I’m not so happy about it like everybody else might be. I’m having the baby and that’s that.” Her doctor says, “Un-congratulations.” Jenna responds, “Un-thank you.”
Throughout the movie, Jenna continues to make and serve incredible pies with names that reflect how she’s feeling, like ”Strawberry Chocolate Oasis Pie”, “Lonely Chicago Pie”, “Spanish Dancer Pie”, “I Hate My Husband Pie”, “Pregnant Miserable Self-Pitying Loser Pie”, etc. As her belly gets bigger, she writes letters to her unborn child, expressing her feelings with gut-wrenching honesty. Jenna is a sad and flawed mother-to-be, and she doesn’t try to hide it.
She finds comfort in her friends, her doctor, and her pies, but things look pretty bleak until the last part of the film. I’ll refrain from spoiling anything other than to say her time in the hospital is incredibly significant, just as it is for any new mother. I’ll also say that this movie has hope in it. It’s got plenty of humor and sweetness mixed in. Think Juno, but 10 years older, in the south.
Have you seen Waitress? What was your reaction to it? Did it make you want to try a slice of Marshmallow Mermaid pie?
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I really loved this movie! I am so glad you are discussing it!
I think it is painfully honest. Hollywood has always painted this image that pregnant woman should “glow” all the time with rainbows and puppy dogs dancing in their wake. So when you get pregnant, and you don’t feel like glowing, you think something is wrong with you, like you aren’t going to be a good mother, or that you are lacking.
I just love how real this film is.
And the pies…well, I for one, always find my happiness in the kitchen:)
Before I watched the movie I knew people who both hated it and loved it. I fell into the loved it category. I watched the end of it by myself with my daughter in my lap and was crying! I was so happy that it ended well!
I loved it!!! I think she made a great choice and is a wonderful movie for mothers.
I’ve never heard of this movie but will have to rent it. My husband doesn’t enjoy chick flicks type movies, but will definitely watch this since he’s a fan of Keri Russell (he met her when they were getting their hair and makeup done together on the set of “We Were Soldiers”)
Thanks for the recommendation. With summer here and our fave tv shows done for the season, it’s movie renting time.
I saw this movie when it came out, I kept hearing bad things about it but I loved it! It made me cry and laugh, there were even things about Jenna that I could relate to at the time. But, as for making me want a pie, that it didn’t do, I’m not a pie-eating girl, yuck lol
it was a great movie. it was a dark horse for me, but i ended up really enjoying it.
I LOVE that movie!! LOVE IT!!! LOVE IT!!! And, when my fiance is being an idiot, I call him Earl and when my godson was born I said, “Don’t worry, Earl, I won’t love the baby more than you”. It cracked me up. Oddly enough, he did not laugh.
I love pie. I do not discriminate against any pie, so that movie made me really hungry.
I loved this movie. I laughed I cried. I watched it over and over. I think its a deff top fav!
I liked this movie too, although it was a little hard to watch on the airplane with my son interrupting me every 5 minutes. But the pies looked delicious!
Loved this movie. Saw it when I was about 5 months pregnant, and it made me cry cry cry. Also made me appreciate my husband much more and realize that he’s not as much of a jerk as I think sometimes.