A Few of Your Favorite Things: The Year's Warmest Movie

There were better films in 2007 (better performances, scripts, and direction), but no movie flattened me with the warm fuzzies like Waitress, a magical-realist tale about a pregnant waitress carrying a child she doesn't want, in an abusive relationship she can't bear, and in love with an obstetrician (Nathan Fillion) she can't have. And it's a comedy. It's kind of kooky, whimsical, earnest but not dumb, sweet but not syrupy, and features Andy Griffith -- of all people -- as the curmudgeonly voice of reason who manages to play against type while simultaneously bringing that magical Mayberry charm to a pie diner. But it's Keri Russell who sells it, who seeps under your skin and floods you with a thaumaturgical glow. Waitress is not a movie you watch; it's a movie you feel. I wasn't particularly familiar with director Adrienne Shelley before, but watching a film filled with so much hope and verve only a few months after her unfortunate death was a strange experience, filled with both sadness and absolute delight.

--Dustin Rowles