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| Waitress (Widescreen Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Adrienne Shelly
Actors: Andy Griffith, Keri Russell, Adrienne Shelly, Jeremy Sisto, Sarah Hunley
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $2.89
You Save: $17.09 (86%)
New (66) Used (49) Collectible (4) from $2.89
Avg. Customer Rating:  157 reviews
Sales Rank: 956
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 108
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: FOXD2246018D
UPC: 024543460183
EAN: 0024543460183
ASIN: B000VY1EYG
Theatrical Release Date: May 25, 2007
Release Date: November 27, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 love this movie September 30, 2008
This is absolutely one of my favorite movies! I'd rave about it, but I'm supposed to be reviewing the product itself right? Well, it arrived in a timely manner and in perfect condition, so I'm pretty pleased. I watched it again the other day... great film!
Pleasant Surprise September 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I watched this a couple of days ago and I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised with this movie. Keri Russell, Adrienne Shelly, Cheryl Hines, Andy Griffith, Jeremy Sisto, etc did an amazing job at portraying the 'blue-collar', small Southern town life. The difference between a good movie and a mediocre one is the ability of the entire cast to reel the viewer into their plot and therefore make us feel emotionally involved. The sad and poignant note is that Adrienne Shelly, who did an amazing job as screenwriter, director, supporting actress did not live to see her creations' eventual acceptance and success. Do not miss the opportunity of acquiring this "gem".
Another Pretty Good Chick Flick!!! September 9, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
As I've said before, I'm usually not a chick-flick guy. I'm more into horror, gore, and sick twisted comedy, but I watched this with my mom once, and it was pretty good. It has a lot of funny scenes and funny dialogue. It even has the legendary Andy Griffith in it. Jenna's husband Earl reminds me of Ronnie White from Rob Zombie's Halloween, and Doyle from Sling Blade. So, if you are a fan of comedy, pies, abuse, and Andy Griffith, then you'll love WAITRESS!
Worth your time September 8, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I decided to buy this based on Nathan Fillion being one of the main characters. I loved "Firefly" and "Serenity" and figured this would be pretty good, too. It was! It had a quirky storyline and appealing actors. I would describe it as a "sweet" movie, one that leaves you smiling when it's over. I would enjoy seeing it again -- if I ever get it back from my daughter.
 I Am the Waitress -- Superficial, Narcissistic, Predictable -- Goo Goo Goo Joob September 1, 2008
6 out of 17 found this review helpful
Waitress isn't the worst film I've ever seen. But after thinking the question over very carefully, I've decided it's the third worst film I've seen, of about 50, over the past two years. It is pretty wretched.
The film only mildly annoys in its first half hour; its worst transgression appears to be the kind of stilted, someone-thinks-this-is-clever-but-it-really-isn't dialogue that afflicts the typical HBO series (think Sex and the City.)
But before too much time has passed, the sorry predictability of the film's plot devices starts embedding itself, one cliche at a time, into the viewer's increasingly maddened brain. It's immediately obvious who the protagonist's forbidden love interest will be, seconds after introduction. It's immediately obvious that the crusty old curmudgeon will turn out to have a heart of gold. And it's distressingly obvious that the sniveling wuss of a suitor will, despite a horrific initial impression, win over his love interest.
If those all sound like cartoony stereotypes to you, then you already have some insight into other problems with Waitress. Characters aren't developed in multiple dimensions. The older waitress, played by Cheryl Hines, is a hardbitten "Flo" knockoff (from the sitcom "Alice.") The younger one, played by the director, is an insecure ugly-duckling type. Not much more to either than that.
The worst stereotyping is visited upon the men. The protagonists's husband is a knuckle-dragging mouth-breathing abuser. The guy running the diner is also lifted from "Alice" - pure surliness. Andy Griffith plays the secretly-sweet old curmudgeon. Indeed, there is a disturbing adolescent sexism that runs throughout the film; men exist there solely to provide certain fodder for the women, either fear/oppression (Kerri Russell's husband), financial support (Andy Griffith and the diner boss), servile adoration (the wuss suitor), or romantic excitement (the doctor). Gross and one-dimensional though the male characters are, one can't help but be more disturbed by the attitudes of the film itself - that it's absurd to think that men are mental or emotional equals with desires and needs as worthy of respect and compromise as are those of the female protagonist. (The arrival of a female daughter, though -- that is depicted as delivering the very meaning of life itself.)
Where the film completely goes off the rails is in its implausible and sudden reversals of situation and character. It might be compelling if a character with some ambivalence and anxiety about parenting were won over to its joys with a mix of pain and rewards. But no - we instead get a sudden 180 switch from complete, nearly inhuman indifference towards one's prenatal child, to utter adoration, all in one sudden moment. Similarly, we go from a character's being utterly helpless and trapped in an abusive relationship, to dismissing her tormentor with nothing more than a few sharp words (thoroughly implausible given that the husband no doubt had a contestable legal claim to custody of the child). In another bizarrely unbelievable plot twist, one character is plopped into a scene late in the film for no other reason so that he can promptly die and bequeath a boatload of money to another. Such moments robbed the film of all believability.
The film's cavalier attitude towards adultery is chilling. Many characters in the film cheat on their spouses, and there are no consequences other than a "Gee, maybe I shouldn't do that." Adultery is treated only as a mis-step on the road to self-discovery instead of the potentially life-destroying event that it is. The film tries to evad ethe moral implications by either keeping some of the victims out of sight completely (like the diner owner's wife), or nearly completely (the doctor's wife, seen only for a few seconds), or by depicting them as unsuitable spouses (Cheryl Hines's invalid husband, Kerri Russell's abusive one). The film makes sure no adulterer is ever caught, so there are no terrible consequences seen other than an awkward pang here or there.
These perverse depictions result in several scenes that are spectacular failures. One scene in the kitchen between the protagonist and her doctor/lover is supposed to a romantic, sensual sharing moment. But it doesn't work that way, because it takes place in her kitchen - the very kitchen she inhabits with the evil husband who has been depicted throughout as a violent abuser. In the juvenile universe of this film, you're supposed to enjoy this as a tender, romantic scene, and not worry about the possibility that this guy might be barging through the door at any second. Viewer haunted by a sense of reality, on the other hand, will spend the whole time marveling at the stupid implausibility of the scene.
An even worse failure is the idiotic scene where Kerri Russell ends one scene with the doctor with an expression of shocked surprise on her face. Nothing in that scene really justifies her ending the scene with that frozen expression, so when you go through a series of cuts to other scenes with her holding that same expression, it feels as contrived and sophomoric as it truly is. Then her expression dissolves into a giddy grin, and THAT expression is held through several more cuts, as she revels in the joy of her new libidinous relationship with the doctor. The whole montage is just shockingly clumsy; it doesn't work, and should have been left on the cutting room floor.
Predictability, implausibility, annoying dialogue, one-dimensional stereotypes, sexism, and self-indulgence - that's pretty much Waitress in a nutshell. It may not be the worst film you'll ever see - but it's bound to be close.
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