Not the typical romantic comedy.
It plays with some uncommon comedy elements such as adultery and marital violence.
You can call me retrograde because I just did not felt at ease with the cringing moments and the low taste comedy, at least for my standards.
Maybe because it was too much colored for a supposedly dark (to light) comedy.
Forgive the generalization, but I think the type of people who love Amelie are the same type of people who will like Waitress. The movies are quite different from each other, but made very much in the same spirit with lots of love and creativity. This is one of my all-time favorite under $5 million budget films. It's terribly sad what happened to the writer/director, but at least she was able to leave us with this lovely farewell.
Sometimes you watch a movie and you feel like they could break out into song at almost any moment. Waitress is like that, and I can totally see both why and how to was eventually turned into a Broadway musical. Giving me vibes of Like Water for Chocolate at the start (I want to try all those pies), it's about Jenna (Keri Russell), a woman who feels trapped. Trapped in her small town, abusive marriage, unwelcome pregnancy, and the perceived limits of her role (cue: the title). I could never shake the feeling that it looked like a TV production (in part because it was populated with actors best known for their television work), but the story and themes were definitely those of a feature film. Paradox is baked into this. It's obviously a narrative about a woman coming into her power and throwing off the shackles of the patriarchy, but it's also about contentment, about being happy ENOUGH and leaving it at that. Ambition, even feminist ambition, isn't to be measured with a standardized stick. Men don't come off very well in this, but it's because none are romanticized traditionally. The pregnancy that traps Jenna also gives her the power of motherhood. It's deceptively complex. It doesn't always work - the coda goes on too long, for example, and Andy Griffith's character would be a plot device if he weren't imbued with cranky charm - but it has some great moments, both funny and touching (my favorite is the look of shock scene). Everything points to writer-director-co-star Adrienne Shelly having had a promising career fine-tuning her voice, which makes her loss before the film even came out that much sadder.
I'd like to start off by saying that I disagree with the comment that compared this to Amélie. That film is one of my absolute favourites, but I didn't care much for this one.
I suppose that it was mainly due to
the ending, which reeked of the "women don't need men" type of feminism. The doctor was treated like a cheating scumbag, despite the fact that she was also cheating (and was also the one who always made the first move). The film went to great lengths to show how much he meant to her. Praising her food, holding her for 20 minutes, talking to her for hours, wanting to run away with her, giving her that pan…I could go on.
At one point she even calls him her best friend while they hold each other intimately. It's very romantic, and it's a clear indicator that they'll be together at the end.
…Except they aren't. Despite the fact that he's the exact same sweet person, after she "wakes" up and coldly dumps her ex (who was a p.o.s, but really? Right at that moment?) she decides to do the same to him. Why? Because after meeting his wife (an encounter that lasted less than a minute) she apparently could tell what the wife was like at home. How she was as a wife, their relationship, everything. It was pretty incredible how she had those skills. Or, more likely, she was just assuming. Kind of like what a lot of people did with her husband, huh?
So she just goes ahead and does the same thing, assuming that the wife is kind and that the two of them need to be together. She then dumps him, and (ignoring his pleas to just talk about it first) she hands him a store-bought pie before walking away. Completely ignoring him, she leaves her lover and supposed "best-friend" and…well, that's it. He never shows up again.
I get that this film is supposed to be about motherhood. Or at least being independent. However, they made a HUGE deal out of their relationship. They gave no indication that she was going to permanently leave him until the end. It just gave off the whole "strong woman don't need no man vibe", which felt out-of-place.
Maybe it's because I expected it to be a romantic comedy. I don't know. But what I do know is that, unlike Amélie, it did not fill me with joy upon watching it. It just frustrated me.
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bittersweetdaisyaday
The best thing about it are the pies- and Andy Griffith as the curmudgeon.joao.antonio.verdade
Not the typical romantic comedy.It plays with some uncommon comedy elements such as adultery and marital violence.
You can call me retrograde because I just did not felt at ease with the cringing moments and the low taste comedy, at least for my standards.
Maybe because it was too much colored for a supposedly dark (to light) comedy.
devilsadvocado
Forgive the generalization, but I think the type of people who love Amelie are the same type of people who will like Waitress. The movies are quite different from each other, but made very much in the same spirit with lots of love and creativity. This is one of my all-time favorite under $5 million budget films. It's terribly sad what happened to the writer/director, but at least she was able to leave us with this lovely farewell.Siskoid
Sometimes you watch a movie and you feel like they could break out into song at almost any moment. Waitress is like that, and I can totally see both why and how to was eventually turned into a Broadway musical. Giving me vibes of Like Water for Chocolate at the start (I want to try all those pies), it's about Jenna (Keri Russell), a woman who feels trapped. Trapped in her small town, abusive marriage, unwelcome pregnancy, and the perceived limits of her role (cue: the title). I could never shake the feeling that it looked like a TV production (in part because it was populated with actors best known for their television work), but the story and themes were definitely those of a feature film. Paradox is baked into this. It's obviously a narrative about a woman coming into her power and throwing off the shackles of the patriarchy, but it's also about contentment, about being happy ENOUGH and leaving it at that. Ambition, even feminist ambition, isn't to be measured with a standardized stick. Men don't come off very well in this, but it's because none are romanticized traditionally. The pregnancy that traps Jenna also gives her the power of motherhood. It's deceptively complex. It doesn't always work - the coda goes on too long, for example, and Andy Griffith's character would be a plot device if he weren't imbued with cranky charm - but it has some great moments, both funny and touching (my favorite is the look of shock scene). Everything points to writer-director-co-star Adrienne Shelly having had a promising career fine-tuning her voice, which makes her loss before the film even came out that much sadder.yukononun
I'd like to start off by saying that I disagree with the comment that compared this to Amélie. That film is one of my absolute favourites, but I didn't care much for this one.I suppose that it was mainly due to
At one point she even calls him her best friend while they hold each other intimately. It's very romantic, and it's a clear indicator that they'll be together at the end.
…Except they aren't. Despite the fact that he's the exact same sweet person, after she "wakes" up and coldly dumps her ex (who was a p.o.s, but really? Right at that moment?) she decides to do the same to him. Why? Because after meeting his wife (an encounter that lasted less than a minute) she apparently could tell what the wife was like at home. How she was as a wife, their relationship, everything. It was pretty incredible how she had those skills. Or, more likely, she was just assuming. Kind of like what a lot of people did with her husband, huh?
So she just goes ahead and does the same thing, assuming that the wife is kind and that the two of them need to be together. She then dumps him, and (ignoring his pleas to just talk about it first) she hands him a store-bought pie before walking away. Completely ignoring him, she leaves her lover and supposed "best-friend" and…well, that's it. He never shows up again.
I get that this film is supposed to be about motherhood. Or at least being independent. However, they made a HUGE deal out of their relationship. They gave no indication that she was going to permanently leave him until the end. It just gave off the whole "strong woman don't need no man vibe", which felt out-of-place.
Maybe it's because I expected it to be a romantic comedy. I don't know. But what I do know is that, unlike Amélie, it did not fill me with joy upon watching it. It just frustrated me.
mook
An uneasy mix of bleak drama, romantic comedy & pregnancy; all set in a 'Pie Diner(?)'. I don't know what to make of it. 5/10.Follow me on Twitter @LastFilmSeen
Skyscore
http://www.afisha.ru/movie/180024/review/186080/