Waitress - 2007 ****

Adrienne Shelly's sweet movie was tragically marred by her horrific murder before the film was released. Still, it doesn't stop you really enjoying the movie, and I really liked the story, although watching her act is quite upsetting. Keri Russell plays Jenna, a pie maker married to a disgusting brute of a man who abuses her, physically and mentally every day. Despite all this she doesn't lave,preferring to bide her time and save up enough money to get out one day in the future. The audience I would imagine are more concerned with the 'here and now' of the situation. She discovers (at the worst time possible) that she is pregnant and speaks to her doctor. Sparks fly, and it is all Jenna can do to not pack her whole marriage in. Instead, she makes pies, loads of pies of all flavours and titles, effectively living out her emotions into them as she bakes. She also goes through a variety of emotions regarding the baby and whether she actually wants to keep it or not. It's a sort of magical film, with surreal bits blown in, and actually I found that on the whole it was very humourous. Jenna has two friends at the diner where she works who are quirky and funny, and also very supportive of her. A nice little film, but I didn't agree with Jenna's attitude to her marriage, which seemed to be utterly hopeless. I wanted her to leave.