Thursday, May 17, 2007

Film Review: Waitress

Have you guys seen these movie pass coupons on cereal boxes? They had a similiar promotion last year. The funny thing is the cereal ain't crap, the pass is worth $10-12 and the cereal is on sale for $2.99 to boot!

I picked up about 13 boxes a couple of months ago before they disappeared off the shelves.

The passes are due to expire today and since last night was my last free night to go I took in a double feature to use up the last of them.

First up: Waitress, starring Keri Russell.

Now I was not what you'd call a fan of Felicity, so I did not go into this movie with high hopes for her acting prowess. The reviews, however, convinced me to go. Apparently, this film was the darling of Sundance and rottentomatoes had been giving it big props. With the Sundance stamp of approval, you kinda know what you're gonna get: quirky independent American movie with charm.

And that's exactly what you get.

At first, the movie hits you with its clumsy dialogue and line delivery. I thought this was gonna be a poor man's Fargo. But after about half an hour, the movie kinda hooks you. The stories flesh out a little and the quirkiness isn't so prominent.

The problem with this movie is that it kinda stalls, story-wise. The writer kinda paints themself into a corner and there's nowhere for the characters to go except to the rather obvious conclusion.

So the movie really relies on the "feel" of the film: you'll either buy into it and enjoy it, or shake your head with boredom. I was more the former, my friend was more the latter.

Overall it's a thumbs up, but you don't need to rush out to see it. I'm sure it'll be on tv plenty.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I saw waitress and loved every bit of it! How can you not love and adore Keri Russell? I was a huge Felicity fan because of her.

PS said...

Anonymous, if you don't tell me who you are, how can I insult your opinion properly?

Geez.

Besides, did I say I didn't love and adore Keri Russell?

...I don't, but that's besides the point. I wasn't a fan of "Felicity" mostly 'cause it was a sappy, soapy chick show. What can I say? I have a penis. And it's lovely.

For the record, I do tune in to "Grey's Anatomy" pretty regularly, so I'm not without my feminine side, though it's really the biting dialogue that I enjoy, not the Izzie-George bullsh*t (Izzies never go for Georges. EVER.).

But back to Keri Russell. She's rather enjoyable in this, but the idea that casting directors should be falling all over themselves? Well, let's not push it too far. She hasn't shown a ton of range yet. Ditto for Nathan Fillion of "Serenity"/"Firefly" fame. He's quite good in this too, but again, I'm not giving him Oscars without more range.

p.s. Do pie restaurants really exist? Weird.