Line #58 Film/Waitress


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/waitress.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:If only life were easy as pie...]]
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4	''Waitress'' is a 2007 [[{{Dramedy}} dramedy]] about Jenna, an [[DomesticAbuse unhappily married]] waitress/pie-baking-genius from the deep south. When she discovers she is pregnant by her abusive and domineering husband with no other choice but to keep the unwanted baby, she begins a passionate affair with her new (and very much married) gynecologist. The film follows her small steps towards self-actualization, independence, and happiness, while being supported by the staff and customers of the diner she works in and their own stories.
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6	Directed by Creator/AdrienneShelly, whose shockingly random murder overshadowed the mostly positive reviews of the film, it stars Creator/KeriRussell as Jenna, Creator/JeremySisto as her husband Earl, Creator/NathanFillion as the gynecologist Dr. Pomatter, Creator/CherylHines as her promiscuous friend Becky, and Creator/AndyGriffith as Joe, the diner's owner.
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8	Not to be confused with the 1981 Creator/{{Troma}} [[InsistentTerminology "sexy comedy"]] ''Waitress!''.
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10	As of April 24, 2016, there is now a [[Theatre/{{Waitress}} musical version]] on Broadway with music by Music/SaraBareilles and a book by Jessie Nelson, starring Jessie Mueller as Jenna Hunterson.
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12	----
13	!!This movie contains examples of:
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15	* AppealToWorseProblems: Becky and Dawn acknowledge that while Jenna is gorgeous and has a great skill for making pies, as lonely (Dawn) or mundane and worrisome (Becky) as their lives may get, they don't envy Jenna at all due to her asshole husband.
16	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Dawn is worried her blind date will be a murderer, a stalker, or ''colorblind''.
17	* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Subverted. [[spoiler:Jenna finally does gather the courage to dump her husband after her daughter is born, but this is merely the last step of a long [[CharacterDevelopment emancipation process]]. Rather, she makes things better for the baby]].
18	* BelligerentSexualTension: Becky and Cal.
19	-->'''Becky:''' Okay, so fire me!\
20	'''Cal:''' Okay, I will!\
21	'''Becky:''' Okay, then do!\
22	''[[HeldGaze (intense eye contact)]]''
23	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: An in-universe example where Jenna is smiling happily while carrying trays to customers. Both Cal and Becky look extremely confused when this happens.
24	* BirdsOfAFeather: Ogie and Dawn are this in the musical, as both enjoy Revolutionary War reenactments.
25	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Jenna escapes her abusive husband and opens a pie shop with her daughter, but Joe dies and Jenna ends things (albeit amicably) with Dr. Pomatter. For fans of their relationship, it's a bit disappointing, though it is the most realistic outcome]].
26	* BlondBrunetteRedhead: The three waitresses: blonde Becky, brunette Jenna, and strawberry blonde Dawn.
27	* BrokenBird: Jenna thanks to years of suffering under Earl's abuse.
28	* BuffySpeak: Lots, and it tends to be delivered by the adorable neurotic Dr. Pomatter. But considering [[Creator/NathanFillion who plays him]], that's no stretch.
29	* ChocolateOfRomance: Jenna's signature falling-in-love pie is made with plenty of chocolate.
30	%%* CloudCuckooLander: Dawn, somewhat. Her husband is nearly a full-blown case.
31	* CoolOldGuy: Joe. However much he tries to hide it behind his grumpy facade, his likability and kindness shine through anyway. He's even played by Andy Griffith, making him cool automatically.
32	* CrapsaccharineWorld: On occasions, the film's aesthetic is very similar to [[Series/PushingDaisies another piemaker's story]]. The darkness of the touched topics, however, prevents the idyllic Southern setting from becoming a SugarBowl.
33	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Jenna and Joe.
34	* DefrostingIceQueen: Childbirth finally defrosts Jenna.
35	* DidNotGetTheGirl: Justified in that [[spoiler:Dr. Pomatter ''is'' a married man and Jenna ultimately realizes she doesn't need him to be happy]].
36	* EarnYourHappyEnding: Jenna ultimately [[spoiler:gains the strength to leave her abusive husband and make a new and better life for herself and her daughter]].
37	%%* EmotionlessGirl: Jenna starts as this.
38	* FoodPorn: Jenna's pies will have you drooling through the entire film.
39	* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler: Joe's words about not being around for much longer. Poor guy.]]
40	* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: It's {{Lampshaded}} where Jenna actually states to Becky that "having an affair is wrong because everyone involved will get hurt", while she continues to have her affair.
41	* InsistentTerminology: Jenna refuses to call Dr. Pomatter by his first name (Jim) even when they're having an affair.
42	* ItsAllAboutMe: Earl claims to love Jenna but he treats her like his property, not as a loved one or even just as a person. He even makes her promise not to love the baby more than him. (In the musical, he reminds her of this promise ''immediately after'' she finishes giving birth.)
43	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
44	** Joe. He makes a big deal of being a grump who enjoys the suffering of others but Jenna sees that he's a big softie underneath it and isn't afraid to tell him as much.
45	** Cal also counts. He tells Jenna that he's "not such a bad guy after all" when she officially tells him she's pregnant. He also tries to intervene when Earl was getting physical at [[spoiler: Dawn and Ogie's wedding.]]
46	* JobTitle: Titled ''Waitress'' and its heroine waitresses and bakes pies for a local diner.
47	* LastNameBasis: Jenna won't call Dr. Pomatter by his first name even though he uses hers.
48	* {{Leitmotif}}: The music that plays whenever Jenna invents a new pie.
49	* LohengrinAndMendelssohn: A fiddle and banjo version of "Here Comes the Bride" plays to introduce the wedding of Dawn and Ogie.
50	* OddFriendship: Jenna develops one with Old Joe. It also doubles as an Main/IntergenerationalFriendship since, judging by their actors' ages, he is about fifty years older.
51	* OffIntoTheDistanceEnding: The last shot of Jenna and Lulu walking off.
52	* OneWordTitle: As a single work JobTitle.
53	* PetTheDog: Deconstructed. Earl has a breakdown, cries about the possibility of losing Jenna, and permits her to buy a crib for the baby. If anything, it does portray the abusive marriage even more realistically. Such PetTheDog moments in a husband like this are probably what makes leaving a cruel man harder because after all, look, he can be good ''sometimes'', so maybe he can be good ''all'' the time, if only you just keep trying. They're the "honeymoon phase" in the cycle of abuse.
54	* PsychopathicManChild: Earl, who's a pathetic whiner ''at best''.
55	* RunningGag: "I gotta go throw up."
56	* SecretRelationship: Jenna and Dr. Pomatter. Cal and Becky, the ones who are [[BelligerentSexualTension constantly bickering!]]
57	* SheCleansUpNicely: Dawn can be very pretty.
58	* SnarkToSnarkCombat: Becky and Cal go back and forth with one another with almost every conversation they have. Especially in the musical.
59	* ThreeFacesOfEve: Jenna is the Wife (though, as has been established, not a happy one), Becky is the Seductress, and Dawn is the Child.
60	* VoiceoverLetter: Jenna repeatedly writes letters to her future child, which are rendered in "Dear baby..." voiceovers.

Context Film / Waitress