Among its many virtues, "Waitress" is one of those films -- like "Babette's Feast," "The Big Night" and "Chocolat" -- that induces in the audience a sensual appreciation of food lovingly and expertly prepared.

These films are so deliciously made, you wish you could eat them.

If I were a chef as well as a film critic, I'd host a moving film festival at which these films were shown in the afternoon, and the dishes featured in them were served at dinner that night. I'd make a million.

But "Waitress" is more than a film about food. It's a witty, daring and touching slice of life the likes of which, tragically, we won't see again, as director and writer Adrienne Shelly was murdered last fall shortly after "Waitress" was completed.

Jenna (Keri Russell, best known for the TV series "Felicity") is a waitress at Joe's Pie Diner, but her real talent is making wonderful pies of all sorts, into which she channels the best part of herself.

Then she gives them names that comment on her mental state before and after she makes them, such as I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie.

Earl (Jeremy Sisto) is Jenna's husband, a demanding, controlling and self-pitying piece of viciousness from whom she is planning to run away as soon as she saves enough money. Being pregnant complicates the matter considerably, though her best fiends, fellow waitresses, Becky (Cheryl Hines) and Dawn (Adrienne Shelly, who also wrote and directed the film), try to get her to see it as a blessing.

When her new doctor (Nathan Fillion) congratulates her on her pregnancy, she quickly disabuses him of the standard mother-to-be position.

Although she will do everything she can to make sure the baby is born healthy, she cannot and will not deny the fact that her child is part of the mechanism that keeps her trapped in a life she hates.

That she is able to convey her hopelessness in a manner that the audience takes as darkish comedy rather than melodrama is a testament to Russell's acting and Shelly's writing and directing.

Soon something more than a patient-doctor relationship develops between Jenna and Dr. Pomatter, a development that inspires conflicting emotions and the creation of I Can't Have No Affair Because It's Wrong And I Don't Want Earl To Kill Me Pie.

This is a wonderful cast, soundly supplemented by Andy Griffith, the crusty owner of Joe's, who sees that Jenna is more than a waitress and wishes she saw that, too.

Shelly displays a wonderful feel for mood and color. The characters usually stay on the quirky side of caricature, and the film is full of anti-genre surprises.

I wish I could look forward to Shelly's next film.

A movie is not much weighed against a long, full life, but "Waitress" is a substantial testament to a fresh and luminous talent.

Local veteran journalist Jim Gordon reviews movies for The Times. The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at jamgordo@iun.edu.

onscreen

"Waitress"

Grade: A

Starring: Keri Russell, Jeremy Sisto, Nathan Fillion

Director: Adrienne Shelly

Rated: PG-13