Pun Salad

It's easy to call this a chick flick; it revolves around Jenna, a waitress trapped in a loveless marriage to Earl, an abusive lout; in the opening scenes, she discovers that she's pregnant. She is (since she's played by Keri Russell) beautiful; she also has an extraordinary talent at pie-making, and she's smart enough to know that she's paying a huge price for her poor judgment in the past. The movie was written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly, who also has a small part as one of Jenna's co-workers.

But it transcends chickflickiness to be just a good, enjoyable movie. Jenna's character is well-developed, and so are the raft of supporting characters. The great Captain Mal, Nathan Filion, takes a role as Jenna's doctor, and (sorry for the spoiler, but you'll notice this pictured on the DVD box) they strike up an unprofessional relationship. Her co-workers also have their amusing romantic escapades.

Jenna remains (at best) ambivalent to the baby growing inside her; she sees it primarily as yet another insurmountable obstacle to her plans to get away from Earl. The movie plays this well, and her fate, and her baby's, remain unresolved and uncertain until the end.

Andy Griffith plays Old Joe, the cantankerous owner of the restaurant. If the Oscar folks have a fraction of sentiment they'll give him at least a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role here. (A little Googling tells me I'm not alone in this opinion.)

So, guys: if you want to appear sensitive and caring to your Significant Other, you might want to check this one out. She'll appreciate the break from 13 consecutive Bruce Willis movies.