Joe’s Pie Diner is relatively famous (or as relatively famous as a small countryside eatery can be) for many things, but its heart and soul (and maybe even the reason for its success) lies within the relatively capable hands of its star waitress Jenna (Keri Russell, Mission: Impossible III). She’s a certifiable “pie genius,” many of her tasty treats inspired by the meteoric ups and downs in her wild life and tagged with names like “Kick in the Pants Pie” and “I Can’t Have No Affair Because It’s Wrong & I Don’t Want Earl to Kill Me Pie.”

What’s causing all the name-calling fuss? Well, for one thing she’s pregnant, and even though her two best friends and fellow waitresses Becky (Cheryl Hines, RV) and Dawn (Adrienne Shelly, Factotum) want to be happy for her Jenna isn’t at all sure this news warrants the glee. See, she was on the verge of leaving her abusive husband Earl (Jeremy Sisto, Wrong Turn), and now with a baby on the way and not a penny to her name this pie-making dynamo doesn’t have a recipe capable of accomplishing miracles.

But maybe there is more magic in the folds of a pie crust and the sprinkling of a bit of cinnamon than this girl knows. The curmudgeonly cantankerous Old Joe (Oscar-winner Andy Griffith, A Face in the Crowd) secretly thinks the world of her (even though he’d never let anyone know), while her boss Cal (Lew Temple) isn’t anywhere near the belligerent cuss everyone seems to think.

With their help, the assistance of her friends and the support of new town doctor Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion, Serenity) maybe having a baby isn’t the end of Jenna’s life after all. Maybe this life beating inside of her won’t lead to the end of its mother’s after it’s born. Maybe Jenna really can break away from Earl and start living life the way she’s always dreamed of. If so, it goes without saying getting there will lead to something grand; at the very least a new pie.

Written and directed by co-star Shelly, Waitress was an audience sensation at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and it is easy to see why. It is breezily funny, perfectly paced and filled with winning performances by its entire cast. Griffith, in particular, is a wonder, disappearing so completely inside Old Joe when the expected (and a bit cliché) unfortunately finally comes it is still impossible not to reach for the Kleenex and shed a quiet tear. This is the type of feel-good dramatic comedy a person smiles about afterwards, and even with a few early missteps and a couple moments of sitcom-like idiocy this is still an immensely entertaining valentine to perseverance and creativity I absolutely adored.

It goes without saying that the very talented Shelly (this was her third film as writer/director and her first to receive wide distribution) was taken from us far too soon. Her brutal and tragic murder is as monstrous and as senseless as any I could imagine, and the thought we will not be seeing her cherub face on the movie screen or witness her delicate touch behind the camera is tearfully depressing.

But I don’t want to dwell on the tragedy. If you need to know more go to Google and feel free to do the research. Instead, I want to focus on the positives, spend my time talking about the glorious comedic timing of Hines, the stoic befuddled sexiness of Fillion and the sparkling human truths hidden beneath all the baking deserts. I want to talk about Russell; about how magnificent she is in the central role and about how her presence in nearly every scene is enough to fill my heart with delightful happiness.

Most of all I want to talk about Shelly’s blissfully scrumptious morsel of a picture. Any film that fills my heart with gladness and makes me skip out of the theater gets a recommendation no matter what its minor problems, and Waitress certainly fits that bill to perfection. It’s so good, in fact, I can’t wait to go back to the counter and ask for a second helping of this marvelously hilarious (and witty) slice of comedic heaven. Heck, maybe I’ll even screw the diet and ask for a little whip cream.

Film Rating: êêê1/2  (out of 4)