Waitress

A film set in a small diner in the American south. Jenna works as a waitress and makes pies. She names each pie after her mood that day; the names are the film's best source of humour. Her husband Earl is jealous and controlling. Jenna hides the money she earns and plans to enter a pie contest and get away. Then she learns she is pregnant. She does not want it and does not hide the feeling; the film does not present the pregnancy as a happy event. At the doctor's she meets someone new to the town and something begins between them. What the film is interested in is the escape plan itself: Jenna saves money step by step and at every step something goes wrong. The other waitresses and the diner's cantankerous owner balance the narrative; the old man's conversations with Jenna are its warmest sections. Keri Russell plays Jenna, Nathan Fillion the doctor and Andy Griffith the owner. Adrienne Shelly wrote and directed the film and played a small part. She was murdered in 2006, before it was shown at Sundance; the production reached cinemas after her death. A fine choice for anyone who likes American independent film and bittersweet comedy. Before you watch, know this: the film treats domestic coercion in a comic register and that balance is not for everyone.