Review:
Last fall, actress and auteur Adrienne Shelly got into a
shouting match with an insane contractor who was working on her
condo. He murdered her and all show business was shocked and in
mourning, for her career, after many years of wallowing near the
bottom, was about to take off for the big time. Fortunately,
this film had just been completed, giving the viewing public a
glimpse of lost promise.
Jenna (Keri Russell) is a genius baker working as a waitress in
a southern café out in the sticks. The reason she's there and
not some uber-trendy bistro in, say, Atlanta or New Orleans is
that she's married to an abusive jerk named Earl (Jeremy Sisto),
who won't let her do anything but work and lie about how much
she loves him, when in reality, she hates his guts.
Her only escape is baking and her job, where she banters with
coworkers Becky (Cheryl Hines), Dawn (Adrienne Shelly) and Cal
(Lew Temple), and their boss Old Joe (Andy Griffith). Then one
day, Jenna discovers she's pregnant [Earl got her plastered on
night], and in order to escape only tells the other two
waitresses and Old Joe, but she has to get medical attention and
goes to her old OB/GYN, who's just retired and has been replaced
by a certain Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion), with whom she starts
having a torrid affair.
With all that “schtürm and drang” going on, one would think that
his is a heavy drama, but no. This is sitcom, and while adultery
has long been the stuff of humor, spousal abuse is not, and
while Shelly shows Jenna to be suffering somewhat, it's seen as
a minor problem, which must be solved. That's the only real flaw
in this tiny gem. The rest of the film is right out of
television, primarily the thing based on “Alice Doesn't Live
Here Any More,” and has the look and feel of a pilot. Whether or
not one should take one's significant other to see it is
questionable, because the character of Earl will put a damper on
the romance to follow. Still…
Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff
Richard E. Schiff
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