Waitress, written and directed by Adrienne Shelly, is an offbeat but enjoyable drama about a young woman desperate to flee an abusive marriage and the small southern town she feels trapped in.

Why is it so hard for Jenna (Keri Russell) to leave her deplorable situation? Because her husband Earl (Jeremy Sisto) regularly uses violence to force her to give him whatever she earns. Her sole reason for living now involves her love of creating mouthwatering pies for her customers at Joe’s Pie Diner. The enthusiastic regulars have dubbed Jenna a “pie genius” and eagerly await her latest efforts.

Our heroine plans on entering a regional pie contest to win $25,000, which would finally enable her to get out of town. But to ensure she won’t be going anywhere soon, Earl uses violence and demands that she never leave home without his consent.

Jenna’s job performance has suffered for several weeks due to nausea, so she takes a pregnancy test. It turns out to be positive, but she decides to hide this fact from Earl, not wanting him to learn about her unborn child. Because her regular physician, a woman, has retired, Jenna is uncomfortable that Dr. Jim Pomatter (Nathan Fillion) is the one examining her to confirm her pregnancy. However, after subsequent appointments, she becomes completely smitten with her new doctor, who is equally head-over-heels for Jenna but refuses to act on his feelings at first. Soon, however, the doctor and patient find it impossible to resist one another and begin a secretive sexual relationship.

Meanwhile, back at the diner, Jenna’s colleagues Becky (Cheryl Hines) and Dawn (Adrienne Shelly) continue to despise the proprietor with a passion. Every time Joe (Andy Griffith) eats at the diner, he calls the waitresses stupid for not following explicit instructions about how he likes his meals prepared and served. 

When Jenna begins serving Joe his meals, she finds it easy to tolerate Joe because of her experience dealing with the abusive Earl. To the astonishment of Becky and Dawn, she builds a strong rapport with Joe. Keri eventually divulges to Joe that she lives in constant fear of Earl. When Joe learns Jenna has been hiding her pregnancy, he tells her to rely on her pie-making talent to sustain her.  He implores Jenna to leave town and carve out a better life for herself and her unborn baby.

Russell delivers a compelling and sincere performance here as Jenna, and Griffith is perfectly cast as a character who conceals loneliness and vulnerability behind his tough exterior. Fillion also provides a solid supporting turn as the wayward doctor.

Tragically, filmmaker Shelly -- who wrote the clever, provocative screenplay and flawlessly directed this touching movie -- was brutally murdered in 2006 and never saw her film become a critical and audience success at its 2007 Sundance Film Festival premiere.

Few people had the chance to see Waitress when it was quietly released in a small number of theaters last summer. I believe this uplifting film deserves to be viewed by a wide audience. Hopefully, it will find one now on DVD.

(Released By Fox Searchlight Pictures and rated "PG-13" for sexual content, language and thematic elements.)