Waitress

A waitress in a small-town diner (Keri Russell) finds herself unexpectedly pregnant, trapped in marriage to an abusive, controlling redneck (Jeremy Sisto), and dangerously attracted to her new ob-gyn (Nathan Fillion). Written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly (who co-stars as another waitress at the diner), this rural romantic comedy is glib and shallow, with a big-city condescension to rural types, but its endearing qualities outweigh its flaws: Shelly’s knack for quirky non-sequitur dialogue, her gentle hand with a talented cast, and Matthew Irving’s cheerful cinematography. The movie’s wry charms and pleasures are unavoidably colored by Shelly’s untimely death in November 2006; what should have been a promising beginning becomes a swan song, with a melancholy, haunted air of lost potential.