The queen of kindness and goodness is in a pickle.

Jenna Hunterson (Keri Russell) is a waitress at Joe’s Pie Diner with a special talent for making delicious pies. She hates her jealous and controlling husband Earl (Jeremy Sisto) but learns she is pregnant with his baby. She refuses to tell Earl about the baby and plans to run away from her life by winning first prize of $25,000 in a pie baking contest.

When Jenna goes to get her first pre-natal check-up she learns that her life-long doctor has gone into semi-retirement and now Dr. Jim Pomatter (Nathan Fillion) will be caring for her. She makes it very clear in that visit that she is not happy to be having the baby. Dr. Pomatter is a bit odd to her from the start but the two begin a strange affair where Jenna continues to refer to Jim as Dr. Pomatter.

Jenna confides in Old Joe (Andy Griffith), a curmudgeonly man who owns the diner and no one seems to like but her. Whether she wants it or not, Old Joe picks up on the fact that she is pregnant and having an affair and advises her to make a fresh start with her life.

Jenna does a bit of narration throughout the film to her unborn baby. Because she’s not looking forward to having the baby the dialog is often pretty rude and hysterical. That baby will definitely need therapy in later life if Jenna ever shares her thoughts during the pregnancy when the baby is older. The film is a bit slow paced in parts. It seems a good 15-20 minutes could have been cut from the film without changing the story progression. The quirk factor is high (which, to me, is a bonus!) and the ending is worth the wait, but there is nothing particularly intriguing or innovative about this film. The scenes showing Jenna’s daily pie creation with narration of what the pie is supposed to represent are definitely the very best part.

Special features include commentary by Keri Russell and producer Michael Roiff, a funny and insightful overview of the film given by writer/director Adrienne Shelly and the rest of the cast, Keri Russell’s closer look at Jenna, and a segment explaining pie as a character in the film. The segments are basically just rehashed, cut up from one set of interviews, and are pretty much skippable (unless you just can’t get enough talk about pie and unwanted babies).

Buttery’s Rating:

Recommendation

What snack would hit this movie’s spot? Why, pie, of course! May I suggest the favorite of Cheryl Hines? Cherry pie!

Old Joe recommends a tall glass of water — NO ICE!

The Covenant is an intriguing tale of the descendants of a 17th Century coven of witches. It revolves around Pogue Parry (Taylor Kitsch), Tyler Simms (Chace Crawford), and Reid Garwin (Toby Hemingway) who are lead by Caleb Danvers (Steven Strait) and are collectively known as the Sons of Ipswich, representing four of the five founding families of the town. The fifth family was rumored to have been driven off for violating a covenant of silence the coven made to avoid persecution during the witch hunts of the time. Attending the elite and upper class Spencer Academy, the boys seem to be the popular clique… allowing others to look, but not see who they truly are as magic wielding warlocks.

With their powers comes not only the cliche’d great responsibility, but the absolute lure of addiction. However, their abilities are not for free use. The more their magic is used, the more addicting it becomes, and the quicker their bodies will age and eventually fail them. This underlying morality lesson of the dangers of drugs is something that is rarely seen told in such a compelling fashion.

A newcomer to the school, Chase Collins (Sebastian Stan), challenges their social dominance. The arrogance of the group is quickly lost when it is discovered that Chase isn’t like any of the other kids… but he is much more like the members of the coven. The fifth family has returned from their exile, and the battle for power begins in earnest.

While the special effects in the action scenes can be considered somewhat mediocre by today’s standards, there are a few scenes that are completely mind blowing. Unfortunately, chances are that you have already seen them in the trailer. The acting was solid, especially for what amounts to a cast of no names. The premise of the story is by far its strongest part. While I think they did a good job in getting the generalities out there… it would have been nice to have seen some more detail for no other reason than to fill the open gap as to why exactly Chase feels so slighted by those he has never met before.

Special Features

Audio commentary and a featurette are the big draws here. Well… who am I kidding… obviously no one saved any magic for the DVD because those are the ONLY draws. Watch the movie, and if you enjoy it that much then maybe you won’t have invested in a nice shiny coaster for the coffee table after all.

Popcorn’s Rating:

Recommendations:

A movie about addictive magic deserves an addictive magic like snack… Magic Mentos Mints are addictively tasty and magically make your bad breath disappear! Can you ask for anything more?