Waitress (2007)
84%RT Audience Score: 74%
Awards & Nominations: 6 wins & 16 nominations
Sweet, smart, and quirky, Waitress hits the right, bittersweet notes through this romantic comedy through its witty script and a superb performance by Keri Russell
Waitress” is a movie that’s as sweet as the pies it features. With a charming and quirky tone, it tells the story of an unhappy relationship that’s both funny and heartfelt. The pie-baking scenes may not be perfect, but they’re still a treat to watch. And while the pies themselves may look a little too plastic, the movie itself is anything but. It’s a generous slice of homemade goodness that will leave you with a sweet taste in your mouth.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
Fox
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Halfway House Cafe – 15564 Sierra Highway, Santa Clarita, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and thematic elements
Year of Release
2007
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 47m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 2, 2007 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 27, 2007
Genre(s)
Romance
Keyword(s)
starring Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelly, Lew Temple, Eddie Jemison, directed by Adrienne Shelly, written by Adrienne Shelly, produced by Michael Roiff, romance, PG-13, box office gross $19.1M, budget unknown, reviewed by Shauna Lyon, Wally Hammond, Bob Mondello, Mark Bourne, Sandra Hall, Derek Malcolm, Richard Propes, Yasser Medina, Brandy McDonnell, Jade Budowski, Sean Axmaker, comedy-drama, small town, Southern, diner, pies, affair, pregnancy, abusive husband, doctor, quirky, bittersweet, witty script, superb performance, sweet, smart, charming, gentle, dark, heartfelt, homemade, deep-dish, unpatronizing, naive, fantasy, reality, astute, humane, study, inertia, promise, future, sitcom, Andy Griffith, last film appearance, crusty diner owner, feel-good, luminous, elegant actress, edge, light, worth seeing
Worldwide gross: $22,240,529
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $31,861,068
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,525
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 3,474,489
US/Canada gross: $19,074,800
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $27,325,946
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,301
US/Canada opening weekend: $92,034
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $131,845
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,832
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $1,500,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $2,148,852
Production budget ranking: 2,018
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $1,157,157
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $28,555,059
ROI to date (est.): 864%
ROI ranking: 148
Nathan Fillion – Dr. Pomatter
Cheryl Hines – Becky
Adrienne Shelly – Dawn
Lew Temple – Cal
Eddie Jemison – Ogie
Director(s)
Adrienne Shelly
Writer(s)
Adrienne Shelly
Producer(s)
Michael Roiff
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
6 wins & 16 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (173) | Top Critics (55) | Fresh (154) | Rotten (19)
Shelly deftly achieves a tone pitched between fantasy and reality, its levity belying an astute and humane study of an unhappy relationship steeped in inertia.
February 10, 2014
Shauna Lyon
New Yorker
TOP CRITIC
Funny, gentle, unpatronising, if occasionally naive and quirky.
November 18, 2011 | Rating: 3/5
Wally Hammond
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
The film is hardly flawless – even the pie-baking scenes sometimes seem half-baked – but it’s hard not to read promise into every frame, and to wonder what Shelly might have cooked up in the future.
October 18, 2008
Bob Mondello
NPR.org
TOP CRITIC
Waitress is not a perfectly cut, factory-line Safeway-brand slice. It does, though, serve up a generous deep-dish portion, homemade and heartfelt, that leaves a sweet taste goes down.
November 28, 2007
Mark Bourne
Film.com
TOP CRITIC
The sunniness of its tone is so disarming that it keeps you onside no matter what.
October 26, 2007
Sandra Hall
Sydney Morning Herald
TOP CRITIC
The pies themselves, produced in all the colours of a rainbow – look disgustingly plastic.
August 10, 2007 | Rating: 3/5
Derek Malcolm
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
It’s hard to picture an actress other than Russell so beautifully blending the drama, desperation, hopefulness, sweetness, and sensuality of her character.
September 26, 2020 | Rating: 4.0/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
Adrienne Shelly’s ‘Waitress’ is a bittersweet comedy-drama that has good intentions when it establish its romantic dilemmas, but I feel it lacks grace and emotionality. [Full review in Spanish]
August 26, 2020 | Rating: 6/10
Yasser Medina
Cinemaficionados
The experience is enjoyable but bittersweet, because Waitress will leave you with a taste for more.
August 9, 2018 | Rating: 3.5/4
Brandy McDonnell
The Oklahoman
This little movie’s got a lot of heart, and it’s a heart that’s unafraid to embrace life’s littlest moments in all its forms.
January 31, 2018
Jade Budowski
Decider
…genuinely, genially funny and carries a modestly affirming moral: You have to make yourself happy and you have to be able to live with yourself.
March 24, 2016
Sean Axmaker
Seanax.com
Essentially a king-size serving of sitcom
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 1/5
Cliff Doerksen
Time Out Chicago…
Plot
Jenna is unhappily married, squirreling away money, and hoping to win a pie-baking contest so, with the prize money, she’ll have enough cash to leave her husband Earl. She finds herself pregnant, which throws her plans awry. She bakes phenomenal pies at Joe’s diner, listens to old Joe’s wisdom, tolerates her sour boss Cal, is friends with Dawn and Becky (her fellow waitresses), and finds a mutual attraction with the new doctor in town. As the pregnancy advances, life with Earl seems less tolerable, a way out less clear, and the affair with the doctor complicated by his marriage. What options does a waitress have?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast of Waitress includes Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, and Adrienne Shelly.
Adrienne-Shelly.jpg
