Pie is underrated. It’s a meal; it’s dessert; it’s fruit; it’s chocolate; it’s pizza; it’s warm; it’s cool; it’s a treat; it’s a poem; it’s all of the above; it’s some of the above; it’s none of the above. In Waitress, it’s a statement. Jenna Hunterson (Sara Bareilles) is a pie maker. Well, she’s employed as a Waitress. But she’s a pie-maker. And her heart and soul is baked within each pie she makes.
This is Waitress: The Musical. It’s a 2023 movie of the Broadway musical based on the 2007 movie starring Keri Russell. No word yet on whether a new musical based on the 2023 movie is in the offing, and then a new movie based on that … this is a vicious circle, no?
Jenna works at the stage equivalent of Mel’s Diner where she and her co-workers like to sing about their pies, their lives, and their feelings. The music ain’t bad -you can do a lot worse than Sara Bareilles in your lead- but the production clearly lacks a show-stopper. There’s no “Tonight,” “Defying Gravity,” or “One Day More” to get you to intermission here.
Oh, did I mention this was a musical? Yeah, there’s a stage and there’s the audience. Waitress: The Musical is a movie exactly in the same way that the video tape of your child’s school play is also a movie. I rank the general idea somewhere below “normal” movies and above “movies I can tell are stage adaptations.” By comparison to the latter, I like that filmed Broadway musicals make no bones about any adaptation pretense foolishness.
And once upon a time, I wanted to see Waitress on Broadway. It would have been a pain in the ass and cost $$$$$$. Now I don’t have to. So, yay.
There are two major plots going on in the script, and both are Jenna-centered. The first is Jenna has a piece-of-crap husband. Earl Hunterson is lazy, abusive, petty, demanding, insecure, egocentric, and pitiful. I imagine the last part is what drew Jenna. Jenna doesn’t like her husband (nor do we) and wants out of their marriage. The second big development is Jenna is pregnant, which not only strengthens the spousal ties she wishes to break; in addition, she’s falling for her gynecologist, Dr. Pomatter (Drew Gehling). She brings him a pie whenever she sees him and then invents and bakes a guilt pie afterwards. It’s cute, sorta.
The unattainable is a national pie contest that Jenna is bound to win and collect the money that will free her forever from Earl, waitressing, and guilt. I’m not sure the prize is big enough to justify all that, but -hey-it’s your movie. 
As Jenna is the best pie-maker anybody knows, she’s a shoo-in if she can just make that darn contest. Until then, she’s a pregnant Waitress having an affair.
Are we disturbed by the Pro-Life undertones of Waitress? We know Jenna loathes her husband and secretly resents his sloth and self-centrism. She doesn’t want a baby by this man. That is 100% clear from the outset. And yet, not once, not at any single time does the heroine reflect upon the problems of her life and consider, *gasp*, abortion (!) Oh, I see. This is one of those POVs from legend and mythology where a baby makes everything better … because of course it does. Isn’t life just the best when a baby solves your personal, emotional, and financial crises all at once? So realistic.
The musical is a winner. It’s not more than that. It’s hardly a must-see and concludes in a way only a musical can conclude – oh, it ALL turned out all right, did it? With no pain or loose ends? Well, gosh, that’s convenient. But, in fairness, that’s one of the reasons we go to musicals, so I can hardly blame it on that “score.” I can blame it for the fact that the best moments are hogged by tiny characters. My favorite number in the film is sung by a nerdy tertiary romancing with a song entitled, “Never Ever Getting Rid of Me.” Later on, the same man feigns an orgasm while cosplaying Paul Revere by shouting “THE BRITISH ARE COMING!” I wish any other character on screen had amused me so. A few tried. Most didn’t. Overall, however, you can do worse than pie.
There once was a Waitress named Jenna
Who had issues with all of her men-na
So she sang and she baked
All the while her heart ached
While Pro-Lifers held out their antenna
Not Rated, 144 Minutes
Director: Diane Paulus, Brett Sullivan
Writer: Jessie Nelson, Adrienne Shelly
Genre: The one where you pay $$ instead of $$$$$
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of musicals
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Fans of patriarchs
