Theatrical Release Year: 2007
DVD Release Year: 2007
Director: Adrienne Shelly
Writer: Adrienne Shelly
Starring: Andy Griffith, Keri Russell, Adrienne Shelly, Jeremy Sisto, Sarah Hunley, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines
Length: 108 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox
MPAA Rating:

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!

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