Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Waitress / USA / 2007

Part of the reason this film works so well is that the filmmakers cast Keri Russell to essentially reprise the role that made her famous, though with slight variations thrown in to camouflage the recognizable aspects of the character. However, it’s hard to shake the feeling that the pitch for this film consisted of something like “Felicity living in the type of small, affable, quirky American town that can only be found in American-Independent movies that get screened at Sundance!” The particulars of such a blueprint find Russell again bouncing between two men with polar-opposite personalities (though only one option is actually a desired, if complicated, outcome) and she often narrates the film via a personal message she dictates to an unknown personality.

However, the familiarity of Waitress also allows Shelly’s film to successfully exude a comforting, almost soothing tone, while focusing its narrative upon a young woman who seems to have spent her whole life at the service of others — including the child that she is carrying — without gaining any sense of independence. Shelly’s nurturing nature as a filmmaker exhibits itself frequently, as even the most despicable characters are allowed moments of sincere humanity, though she does not provide them an excuse or a pardon for their actions. Thankfully, Shelly also had enough confidence in her protagonist to avoid allowing Jenna (Russell) to make her choices based around the males who influence her existence. Thus, Jenna makes a decisive decision to raise her daughter on her own terms, without worrying about the absence of a masculine presence within her life.

It’s a little strange that none of these recent films about pregnancy deal with the complications of child-birth, though Shelly’s film does pause to permit and admit such complexities. Frankly, things work themselves out a little too easily in the end of this feminine fantasy-film, but ultimately Shelly’s final film feels successful mostly because it understands its fundamental message and designs its entire dilemma around conveying the notion that autonomy is attainable even when an individual struggles with responsibility.

Of course, I’m utterly biased since I’m entirely infatuated with Keri Russell’s on-screen persona.

by Chiranjit Goswami | Source: Fox Searchlight Pictures 35mm Theatrical Print
05 Jun 2007 4:28 PM | Submit Comment