I'm pretty sure that if writer/director Adrienne Shelly had not been murdered in her New York office, this movie would not be getting anywhere near the reception it's getting. Hell, I bet it would never have been widely released. Fact is, Hollywood loves to fall all over itself lamenting the tragic passing of "one of its own." Unfortunately, Shelly wasn't really one of Hollywood's own. She was an actress who languished in independent film and never received much recognition, at least not until somebody murdered her. So naturally Hollywood steps up now to talk about how much they miss her and what a talent she was despite the fact that these same people didn't give two shits about her before.

This is one of those movies that bathes itself in Southern charm as though traveling anywhere south of the Mason Dixon line were a endless cornucopia of lovely witticisms and hospitality. The story takes place in a little diner famous for its pies, focusing on Jenna (Keri Russell), who is an artist when it comes to making pies. Unfortunately, she's just discovered she's pregnant by her bastard of a husband, Earl (Jeremy Sisto).

Basically, we're supposed to find all these dipshit characters cute and quaint and worthy of our time. The few bad ones, like Earl, are easy enough to dismiss. Despite her profession and seemingly limited educational background, Jenna seems bright enough, though she so totally lacks any self-esteem that it's amazing she doesn't lie down in the middle of the highway and let herself get run over in the first five minutes. Fellow waitress Becky (Cheryl Hines) is basically Flo from "Alice," while Dawn (Adrienne Shelly) is sweet and innocent and looking for love. Ogie (Edie Jemison) shows up to love Dawn and is so over-the-top insistent and syrupy that you'd swear he was auditioning for a role as Barney's understudy.

The most irritating thing about the film is the way it makes light of infidelity, as though fidelity were some vague concept meant to be broken on whim. Jenna falls for her gynecologist, Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion). This is somewhat understandable because her husband is a jerk. However, that he falls for her -- apparently mesmerized by her pies -- is another matter entirely. Later, we meet his wife and since she appears to be the sweetest thing on the planet, we're left to assume that he's just a bastard. Similarly, there's Becky, who's cheating on her invalid husband, adding another layer of depth to this film's moral cesspool.

"Waitress" doesn't serve up very much.