Waitress A Movie Review	MPAA Rated - PG-13 It's 1:44 Long A Review by The Dude on the Right

"Waitress" tells the story of three waitresses, Becky (Cheryl Hines), Dawn (Adrienne Shelly), and Jenna (Keri Russell). Most of the movie revolves around Jenna with some other insights into the wacky relationships the other dudettes are having. But it’s Jenna who matters most, mostly because she has an uber-jerk for a husband, Earl (Jeremy Sisto), always begging the question in my head of how do these sweet girls end up with these complete assholes. Anyway, Earl is the kind of guy that thinks he is the provider, but mostly because he makes Jenna give her whatever money she makes. He’s also the kind of guy that will threaten you with a hand across the face (although every now and then it’s no longer a threat), if you don’t agree with his way of thinking, with his idea of what a wife should be, and even if you fail to ask how his day was. Jenna, though, can bake a mean pie, with just about any combination of ingredients, which she names appropriately as her days go along. She dreams of breaking away from Earl, has been saving up some money to enter a pie contest away from town, and then disaster strikes for her – she finds herself with child.

Enter Dr. Pomater (Nathan Fillion), the new gynecologist in town, who ends up being Jenna’s doc because her normal doc is going into semi-retirement. Instantly there is sexual tension between the doc and Jenna, and surprisingly that tension breaks into a full-on affair. The rest of the movie is now giving us the story of how Jenna’s plan of getting away falls apart (she was pretty stupid in her get-away), Earl finding out she is pregnant, Jenna and the doc thinking they are perfect for each other yet both are married, and through it all we get the wisdom of Old Joe (Andy Griffith in a fantastic role), the owner of the diner Jenna and our other waitresses work at, as he sees right through Jenna and does his best to keep Jenna from forgetting her dream.

Yea, this movie is a dudette flick, and if you are a cad like Earl, you will utterly hate the film. But it is filled with great looks at relationships, even ones based on torrid affairs, and utterly about women needing to take that chance and self-empower their lives. What really makes this movie work, also, is the pretty much perfect casting of all of the characters. Cheryl Hines as Becky brings that southern sass of a co-worker; Adrienne Shelly plays the shy, thinks she’s an ugly-duckling role in a nice way; and Keri Russell as Jenna plays that sweet dudette, stuck with a jerk, then acting out her feelings in an affair you almost feel she deserves. But the role of the movie really has to go to Andy Griffith, playing an old curmudgeon yet wise old dude perfectly.

Sure, the ending isn’t a surprise, I pretty much saw it coming, but in the end I didn’t care because it is the ending this movie really deserves. To end it differently would just be cruel to us, the movie audience, though there is that dark side of me that would have had Earl stealing the envelope.

And yes, even though I’m a dude, I really liked "Waitress." Jenna’s naming of the pies (like she does in the trailer) is great, her questioning if she will love her baby is perfect, and all in all it’s just some fun, adult entertainment. 4 ½ Stars out of 5.

It is worth noting, sadly, that Adrienne Shelly, who stars as Dawn in the film, and also wrote and directed the movie, was murdered in late 2006.  Yes it is a shame because who knows what other great films she could have made, but if "Waitress" becomes her legacy, it's a great one.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!