Waitress Reviews

Waitress is a dramatic comedy film about a small-town pie-baking waitress, and her struggle to extricate herself from an abusive marriage. Played by Keri Russell, the main character Jenna is dealing with an unexpected pregnancy. She expresses herself by making pies and bonding with her handsome obstetrician, played by Nathan Fillion.

The critics were very positive about this film, calling it sweet, funny and a fitting tribute to the writer/director Adrienne Shelley, who was murdered after filming was completed. Waitress has a high 89% freshness rating calculated by Rotten Tomatoes.

• "While aspects verge on sitcom terrain, this tale of a pregnant small-town woman caught between a bad marriage and a risky affair is mostly as funny and charming as intended. " --Variety

• "But the manifold beauties of "Waitress" are emotional, not technical, and the movie is full of surprises:" --The Wall Street Journal

• "As the first bud of what should be a flourishing career for Keri Russell and a final chapter in the too-short story of Adrienne Shelley, this is a nigh-on perfect creation. Every ingredient is selected and assembled with care, and the finished product will leave you pleasantly full for days." --Empire

• Film Threat: Waitress Review (3/4)
  • "It would all be a bit too much, if the film wasn't so much fun."

• USA Today: Waitress Review (3.5/4)
  • "Though some aspects feel like a sitcom, Waitress doesn't adhere to formula or resort to clichés. It's a rare chick flick that draws us in with its wit, warmth and quirkily appealing characters."

• Salon: Waitress Review
  • "Russell, with her heart-shaped, Victorian valentine face, has just the right amount of sweet tartness; she never steps over the line into that dreaded territory of "spunky.""

• Christian Science Monitor: Waitress Review (A-)
  • "The film is laced with lovely moments, from the leads and from Shelly as a waitress friend."

• Rolling Stone: Waitress Review (3/4)
  • "...a hilarious and heartfelt performance by Keri Russell..."

• San Francisco Chronicle: Waitress Review
  • "Waitress deserves an essay, not just a review. There are perfect moments that stand out, and the reasons for their perfection are interesting."

• TIME: Waitress Review
  • "Despite its realistic setting in a small Southern town, it is much more a fable than it is a slice of authentic life.

• Guardian Unlimited: Waitress Review (1/5)
  • "...sentimental, sickly-sweet, with chillingly reactionary overtones and a fatuously naive approach to spousal abuse."

• Slant Magazine: Waitress Review (2/4)
  • "More unfortunate is the story's almost nonexistent sense of time and place, which leaves us with a film that not only looks visually chafed but one with characters whose behaviors feel groundless."

• Orlando Weekly: Waitress Review (2.5/5)
  • "Sweet and forgettable..."

• New York Magazine: Waitress Review
  • "I think of Waitress as an overstuffed, overcooked pie—too ungainly to eat all of, too generous to pass up, too heartbreaking to contemplate for long."

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