Dans Papers - June 1, 2007 - Guy de Fraumeni's Hollywod 1n The Hamptons

Call me the ol'Heartbreaker. I know you will be decimated by my not continuing coverage of the Summer Blockbusters, however, Pirates of the Caribbean and Shrek don't need my help or detraction. Shrek already has the next sequel in the works. Maybe if the Grumpy Green Giant makes bigger strides, I'll report on that one. And I did review Spider Man 3. I saw my duty and I dunnit. For now I would like to address more mature subjects. How about on the feminine side? Waitress and Georgia Rule, for example. Interestingly, Waitress was made by a woman and Georgia Rule by men and, like an old time errant petticoat, it shows.

Waitress is a lip smacking, warm delicacy with as much heart as Valentine's Day. It's that wowing, offbeat humor that can cast away the pall of bleak sadness of the auteur's tragic death last fall. The film's writer and director Adrienne Shelly, who also co-stars, was killed by a renovation worker when she complained about the noise. He set it up to look like a suicide, hanging her from a shower rod. A terrible tragedy - bittersweet when experiencing the films poignant pluck. I generally consider "pluck" an awful description of a female characteristic but Shelley's total lack of coyness bars irritating stereotypes and caricatures and therefore, not insulting. Its central vivacious waitress is Keri Russell as Jenna, a Southern belle (in the best sense) who also is a highly creative pie baker, with equally creative titles, which depend on their inspiration. This takes place in a broken down diner run by its owner Joe, a crotchety sage-like, fatherly confidant played by Andy Griffith, who hijacks every scene he shares. Holding their own though, are Ms. Shelly and Cheryl Hines as Russell's waitress pals with tart as rhubarb-tongues and sweet-as-the-berries kindness.

Ms. Russell's Jenna boldly concocts imaginative pies with passion, perhaps it's because her husband continually demoralizes her with demands for attention. A clue as to her feelings for husband Earl, downplayed by Jeremy Sisto, is made clear when she names a creation, "I Hate My Husband Pie." Her passion has to be channeled somewhere. She finds that she is pregnant - oddly, this strained situation will take on Fairy Tale overtones. She daringly sparks an affair with her OB-GYN, Dr. Pomatter, a charming Nathan Fillion. Though he is married, she goes for it! You know what I'm talking about. As a matter of fact, later, she glows her way through Joe's pie diner hunting out sex to the music "Short Skirt/Long Jacket." Waitress is as brazen as chocolate and as misty-eyed and self revelatory as blackberry-plum, hot between yellow butter-laden crusts. Keri Russell's performance soars but it is Adrienne Shelly's soul that gives it wings. Its exhilaration of Jenna's pregnancy defines her nature. Adrienne Shelly was pregnant when she wrote Waitress.

And then there is Georgia Rule, a film by Garry Marshall. You know him. He's made a great deal of entertaining stuff from way back to the "Laverne and Shirley" TV days to 1990s hit Pretty Woman. It dared to make a prostitute an object of romantic worship. Almost as holy as if "in the bible writ." With screenwriter Mark Andrus, they have managed to put their women through a dirty laundry list of out of the norm behavioral activities that were likely to have been culled from Lifetime Cable TV. A mother-daughter-granddaughter story becomes a litany of what's wrong with the human condition or the price of tomatoes or, want to know what's ugly?

Grandma is Georgia. She's tough (feisty fits) and as done by Jane Fonda, she is all that and remarkable as an actress. She is fit and feisty, as sharp as a stiletto. As Georgia is a wounded widow, a hypocrite, a card shark and ruler of her own domain. As the title says. Georgia rules. Her daughter Lilly is a frustrated Felicity Huffman. She has good reason to be. Her daughter Rachel, playing her real life persona, Lindsay Lohan, is a teenager going on total "mess." Mother's drinking a lot and can't handle what her daughter's been doing - being an out of control, foul mouthed crazy. What else to do but introduce her to tough old bird Georgia. Georgia gives Rachel her credo, "There's the right way and then there is Georgia Rule"! How will she handle her? Rachel has been sexually abused by her stepfather!! Oh well, just another little problem to be fixed up before the closing Hollywood credits.

Guy Jean de Fraumeni is the producer/writer/director of awardwinning European and American feature films. He has been a judge at Major Film and TV award competitions, including the Oscars, the Emmy's and various film festivals. He is assisted by Sarah Halsey.