Waitress

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

A wee romantic charmer, a delectable Dixie screwball romp that never loses its spry sense of discovery.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

The writer-director Adrienne Shelly, who died in New York City late last year at the age of 40, took such perishable ingredients as wit, daring, poignancy, whimsy and romance, added passionate feelings plus the constant possibility of joy, decorated her one-of-a-kind production with pastel colors and created something close to perfection.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Waitress deserves an essay, not just a review. There are perfect moments that stand out, and the reasons for their perfection are interesting.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

The movie is an inspired comedy-drama about artistic temperament.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The film is laced with lovely moments, from the leads and from Shelly as a waitress friend.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Serves up an irresistible helping of delicious fun with writing that is tart and sharp and a story infused with sweetness.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Sweet and sour and sexy.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Waitress is strange and sexy and personal and wonderful -- a weird little slice of pure feeling -- and it's horrible that Shelly never got the chance to see it delight a mass audience.

Empire Staff (Not credited)

An unassuming treat amid the noisy blockbuster season. It’ll melt your heart and any dietary resolve equally.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Part feminist fable, part romantic fairy tale, it is by turns tart and sweet, charming and tough, rather like its heroine and like Keri Russell, the plucky, pretty, nimble actress who plays her.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

The movie doesn’t stand in judgment of its characters, which will probably disappoint audiences who think it ought to, but its breezy tone and ultimately affirming message should please comedy fans with an appreciation for the offbeat.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Waitress isn't a great film, but it is great, deep-dish fun, with a generosity of spirit that extends first to the sisters on the screen and in the audience, then to the rest of humanity.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

There is little trace of tragedy in this warm, refreshing Southern comedy, which is quirky without being idiotic, original despite some familiar developments.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Waitress is sweet, uneven and, ultimately, a heartbreaker.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Basically, this tale of a pregnant waitress looking for a way out of an unhappy marriage is a funny and touching riff on Martin Scorsese's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," not to mention its better-known sitcom spinoff, "Alice."

Premiere Glenn Kenny

It's an awful shame that Shelly will not be making any more films, but all the more reason to celebrate Waitress now.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

The ending of Waitress is so beguiling and whimsical that it makes you, like its diner's patrons, hungry for more--and it makes you miss that red-headed movie auteur/pastry chef/heart stealer Shelly even more.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

A pleasant dramatic comedy that overcomes its tonal inconsistencies by presenting an engaging lead character with whom its virtually impossible not to empathize.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

This sweetheart of a comedy boasts a hilarious and heartfelt performance by Keri Russell.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Shelly left her daughter - and her audience - a wonderful gift, this movie about the transforming effects of motherhood. Waitress shows how, in giving birth, a woman gives birth to herself - as artist and mother.

Variety Dennis Harvey

While aspects verge on sitcom terrain, this tale of a pregnant small-town woman caught between a bad marriage and a risky affair is mostly as funny and charming as intended.

Newsweek Devin Gordon

Wise, humble and effortlessly funny.

Village Voice Nathan Lee

Waitress won't set the world on fire, but it glows.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

It's an openhearted picture, an unintentional goodbye that feels more like a beginning than an ending.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Washed in a honeyed 1950s glow, Waitress has a mildly puckish way with outlandish baked goods and pert dialogue, but the movie is memorable largely for the contrast between its innocent sweetness and the savagery of its maker's premature death.

Washington Post Paul Farhi

Among the joys here are the supporting players, each with well-defined stories and quirky personalities. Cheryl Hines (HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm") and Shelly play fellow waitresses searching for their own happiness, and good ol' Andy Griffith is memorable as the curmudgeonly diner-owner who takes a shine to Jenna.

Slate Dana Stevens

When you watch Waitress, you're also watching a meta-movie about Shelly's brutal end, and the spirit that bursts from every corner of this overcrowded movie is so genuinely warm that trashing it feels like panning a so-so baton-twirling performance at the church talent show.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The film isn't averse to reaching for Hollywood fantasies, but there's a lot of what seems to be hard-earned wisdom here about women in bad marriages.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

It's an imperfect film, but it's the kind of imperfect film of which it would be nice to have seen Shelly make more.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

While Shelly's stylized vision and sentimental intentions don't always gel, they do result in a warm, often charming fantasy.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Shelly was murdered before she could continue developing as a writer and director, and while this, her last film, is extremely uneven and undermined by an excess of quirk, Keri Russell's performance as a pregnant pie-guru is a charmer with a bracing streak convincingly desperate determination.

Time Richard Schickel

It appears to be a true reflection of her (Shelly) spirit -- eccentric, good-naturedly feminist, kind of funny and kind of sentimental. Despite its realistic setting in a small Southern town, it is much more a fable than it is a slice of authentic life.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

I think of Waitress as an overstuffed, overcooked pie--too ungainly to eat all of, too generous to pass up, too heartbreaking to contemplate for long.

Film Threat Jeremy Mathews

Full of off-kilter characters who don't talk like anyone in real life, but sound a truthful chord.