I’ve been rethinking my opinion of the Waitress. I don’t think I gave the movie enough credit. To be sure, some of my original thoughts still hold, the movie could be (and should be) 30 minutes shorter. But it was funnier then I expressed. And Keri Russell did a pretty good job of acting (not to mention of looking pretty good too). And Cheryl Hines was a scene stealer. As was Adrienne Shelly. Eddie Jameson, playing Dawn’s love interest Ogie, is particularly funny (Jameson is better known for his roles in the Ocean’s 11 movies)
So no more lukewarm review from me. I liked the movie, you should go out and see it.
Went and saw The Waitress Monday night with one of the sisters. I was some what indifferent about it (a little too long, some what cute, not a great ending) but then I went to check something on the IMDB and now I can’t really rip it. During the credits I thought I noticed that the writer and director of the movie, Adrienne Shelly, also played one of the best characters in the movie, Dawn.
So I went to IMDB to see if I was correct and I was and then I clicked on Ms. Shelly’s page to see what else she’s been in and I find out that…she was murdered last year. From her IMDB page:
Shelly’s death was first considered a suicide. Days later, a 19-year-old Ecuadorian illegal immigrant and construction worker confessed to slaying the actress, who he left hanging by a bedsheet from a shower rod in the bathroom of her Manhattan office/apartment. She was found by her husband.
Well now I can’t not like a movie written and directed and co-starred in by a dead woman, right? No, no I can’t. And now I kind of think I like it more then I did before I knew this. Go see The Waitress. Its not great but it has some funny parts and Dawn, the character Shelly played, is actually kind of funny and cute. Oh, and her husband set up a foundation named after her that can be found here. Now I feel bad.
Saw the new Don Cheadle/Adam Sandler movie last night, Reign Over Me. Wasn't half bad. Cheadle is, as expected, fairly great and Sandler does solid work. Its a pretty sad movie mixed in with some truly funny bits, certainly worth seeing. Two things that stood out though:
1) the music throughout the movie is pretty great and the Pearl Jam cover of The Who's Love Reign Over Me is next on my downloading list and
2) there are times in the movie when Sandler is doing his little weird "depressed/weirdo" voice in a manner which is supposed to sound serious but sounds EXACTLY like the voice he uses in Happy Gilmore/Billy Madison. This totally hampers serious parts of the movie. Its not Sandler's fault he brings those other, drastically less serious movies, to mind but he's got to be aware that his weird "non-normal" voice needs to be a little different from movie to movie.
Also, and I haven't thought about this extensively so I'll just through it out there, its kind of weird how 9/11 is used in the plot. Its used more as a plot device rather then a focus of the movie. Charlie Fineman, Sandler's character, loses his family in the 9/11 attacks but they just as easily could have been killed in some other tragic incident. Its almost as if the director/writer decided that since this movie is set in New York City that 9/11 would be the logical tie in. Again I haven't thought about this enough but I thought I'd mention it.
Here's what Rotten Tomatoes has to say about the movie (its not very positive) and, as always, here's a link to my movie review section featured right here on this very own site.