75
Metascore
34 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottPart feminist fable, part romantic fairy tale, it is by turns tart and sweet, charming and tough, rather like its heroine and like Keri Russell, the plucky, pretty, nimble actress who plays her.
- 75Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversThis sweetheart of a comedy boasts a hilarious and heartfelt performance by Keri Russell.
- 75Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyPhiladelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyShelly left her daughter - and her audience - a wonderful gift, this movie about the transforming effects of motherhood. Waitress shows how, in giving birth, a woman gives birth to herself - as artist and mother.
- 70VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyWhile aspects verge on sitcom terrain, this tale of a pregnant small-town woman caught between a bad marriage and a risky affair is mostly as funny and charming as intended.
- 70NewsweekNewsweekWise, humble and effortlessly funny.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceWaitress won't set the world on fire, but it glows.
- 63TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghShelly was murdered before she could continue developing as a writer and director, and while this, her last film, is extremely uneven and undermined by an excess of quirk, Keri Russell's performance as a pregnant pie-guru is a charmer with a bracing streak convincingly desperate determination.
- 60Film ThreatFilm ThreatFull of off-kilter characters who don't talk like anyone in real life, but sound a truthful chord.
- 60New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinI think of Waitress as an overstuffed, overcooked pie--too ungainly to eat all of, too generous to pass up, too heartbreaking to contemplate for long.
- 60TimeRichard SchickelTimeRichard SchickelIt appears to be a true reflection of her (Shelly) spirit -- eccentric, good-naturedly feminist, kind of funny and kind of sentimental. Despite its realistic setting in a small Southern town, it is much more a fable than it is a slice of authentic life.