Pie on the Beach

I saw two movies last weekend. And yes, I paid separate admission for each one, although to be honest, I was tempted to just sneak into the next theatre. These multi-plexes seem to lend themselves to sneaking, but perhaps that's just me.

*****Spoiler alerts for Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Waitress*****

Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer....was ok. A fun comic book action romp. Although I actually kind of feel mean for saying this, I'm gonna say it anyway: Jessica Alba does not seem to be a very good actress. Either that or she was not directed very well in this film. She is super gorgeous and she's not horrible, but other than making puppy dog endearing eyes to the Silver Surfer, I am not sure how much she contributed to this film. Frankly, that look she does reminds me of Puss in Boots from Shrek. (I could almost hear the background music swelling). Plus, she still seems too young for the dude they have playing Reed Richards (who is pretty hot, by the way).

But anyway, the film I would really like to write about is Waitress, written and directed by Adrienne Shelley. She also acted in the movie as "Dawn" a fellow waitress and friend of the main character Jenna (Keri Russell). I believe she also sang the movie's closing song. The film is dedicated to her memory, because she was killed on November 1, 2006. According to IMDb:
"Shelly's death was first considered a suicide. Days later, a 19-year-old Ecuadorian illegal immigrant and construction worker confessed to slaying the actress, who he left hanging by a bedsheet from a shower rod in the bathroom of her Manhattan office / apartment. She was found by her husband."

How tragic. She was obviously very talented. She also had a daughter, who played Jenna's daughter at the end of the movie. She was such a cutie with bright yellow curly hair and an angelic smile.

I enjoyed the movie. It was told in a fairy tale spirit. It is the kind of story a mother tells her daughter when her daughter demands a bedtime story about how she came to be. A story to be repeated, with sometimes a new detail added here or there, but basically the same. A story that, when that little girl grows up, she will tell her own daughter...and so on and so on, down through the generations. Eventually it becomes almost like a fable (kind of like the movie Big Fish). A story about how the love of a mother for her daughter changed the course of that mother's life forever by freeing her from her fears and insecurities.

And Nathan Fillion was hot. I've liked him since I first saw him on that television show, Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. But really loved him as Capt. Malcolm Reynolds in Firefly (and the subsequent movie Serendipity). Of course, he's a big cheater in this movie, which was kind of distracting, because I wanted to like him (he plays this awkward, neurotic, yet endearing doctor), but I kept thinking, "he's cheating!" Ugh.

Andy Griffith was also in this movie, and I liked him (and his character) a lot. In fact, the supporting cast (Jeremy Sisto as Jenna's controlling jerk of a husband, Cheryl Hines as the smart-talking waitress/friend, and of course Adrienne Shelley) were stellar. There were some inconsistencies and incongruence regarding the plot and the actions of the characters, but I am ready to forgive them because the movie was so charming and I feel, meant to play out like a fairy tale or fable.

Plus, did I mention how hot Nathan Fillion was in this movie?

The main character makes pies. She makes pies because it is a link to her past and reminds her of times when her life was better (as a young girl baking with her mother, who obviously loved her very much) and because it is a creative outlet for a life that is slowly suffocating her spirit. It is her means of escape (some people do drugs or otherwise create alternate realities), she bakes.

Jenna names her pies after whatever circumstance she is going through at the time. I just wish the pies would have tied in better with the names...or vice versa. That would have been cool. I think one of her pies was "Baby waking me up in the middle of the night" pie and it had pecans and nutmeg in it. What does that have to do with a crying baby? There was an Earl (her husband) killing me because I'm having an affair" pie that had raspberries and blackberries crushed up...allusion to bruises? A bit of a stretch, since none of the other pies really matched their names.

But still, I enjoyed Waitress a lot. One thing I really liked about it is that she did not choose any of the men in her life. Jenna decided to face the world for and with her daughter Lulu. Although, if one chose to be very picky, one could say that she did rely on a man to "save" her . . . that man being Old Joe (Andy Griffith) who gives her enough money to create her own pie business. I choose not to be picky here.

Plus, have I mentioned how hot Nathan Fillion was in this movie?