Review: ‘Bug,’ ‘Waitress’ stack up against summer blockbusters

There’s no point in reviewing “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” since most inveterate moviegoers will have seen it long before reading any critique of the film.

While the obvious blockbusters are getting all the attention, some fine movies run the risk of slipping through the cracks.

So, if you find yourself looking at a “sold out” sign or just don’t want to spend time crammed against a bunch of noisy kids you don’t even know, consider the following flicks.

“Bug”

Directed by: William Friedkin

Starring: Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr., Michael Shannon, Lynn Collins

Rated: R

Director William Friedkin is best known for the 1973 horror classic “The Exorcist,” but he also directed “The Boys in the Band,” “The French Connection” and the much-overlooked “Sorcerer.”

His latest film, “Bug,” is based on the off-Broadway hit written by Steppenwolf Theatre alumnus Tracy Letts and, in some ways, it retains the feel of a stage production.

While the trend in modern horror films leans to upping the blood-per-frame quotient, Friedkin realizes that psychological drama can be every bit as horrific as gallons of bodily fluids.

Ashley Judd – downplaying her luminosity but not hiding it – plays Agnes, a waitress at a rowdy Oklahoma roadhouse. She lives in a motel that makes simple squalor seem appealing and has just gotten word that her ex-husband, Jerry (a meaner than usual Harry Connick Jr.), has been paroled. She knows Jerry will head her way and indeed he does. The “reunion” is not a happy one for Agnes. Jerry says he has some business to take care of but will be back in a few days.

In the meantime, Agnes’ best friend introduces her to a rather quiet man whom she met hanging out at the roadhouse.

Peter (Michael Shannon) is shy and seems more erudite than most in Agnes’ part of the world. He spends the night, he on the floor, Agnes in bed. But Agnes seems to like having him hang around.

Although Peter says he’s given up sex, the couple can’t resist and end up making love the following night.

In the back of our minds, we are worried. We know Jerry is due back soon.

What starts out as a general feeling of unease begins to escalate almost immediately after Peter and Agnes consummate their relationship. Friedkin begins to build a psychological piece of horror and madness that eventually becomes like a runaway train heading toward a cliff.

Most of the scary moments are in the increasingly manic dialogue.

Considering films like “Hostel,” et al, “Bug” is nearly bloodless.

Just keep in mind, self-dentistry is never pretty. Neither are paranoid delusional diatribes.

It’s a great and frightening film, one that will make the viewer very uneasy.

“Waitress”

Directed by: Adrienne Shelly

Starring: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelly, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith

Rated: PG-13

On the other side of the coin is “Waitress,” a romantic film with food – in this case, pie – as a backdrop.

Jenna (Keri Russell) is trapped in an unhappy marriage and, like Agnes in “Bug,” is a waitress. Jenna’s place of employment is more wholesome, and Jenna’s great talent – and the way she copes with problems – is baking what everyone around believes are the best pies they’ve ever eaten. Part of her therapy comes from giving her creations descriptive names.

When she finds out she’s pregnant, husband Earl laughs, “It must be that time I got you drunk a couple months ago.” He adds, “Now promise you won’t ever love that baby more than you love me.” So, she makes an “I Don’t Want Earl’s Baby” pie.

It’s Jenna’s dream to win a pie-baking contest she heard about, take the $25,000 prize and get away from Earl.

Things sour when Earl discovers that plan, and they get more complicated when Jenna meets the new OB-GYN in town, the handsome (and married) Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion). The two have a brief fling, but Jenna doesn’t need another married man in her life. She’s unhappy with the one she has already.

And the good doctor obviously loves his wife.

Cheryl Hines (from “Curb Your Enthusiasm”) is great as one of Jenna’s co-workers, and writer/director Adrienne Shelly rounds out the trio of waitresses. Andy Griffith has a cameo as the diner’s owner, Old Joe.

“Waitress” is a sweet – never sappy, sometimes even tart – film that will bring back memories of not only Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” but classic “romantic food” films such as “Babette’s Feast,” “Tampopo,” “Like Water for Chocolate,” “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman” and “Chocolat.” Some may call it a “chick flick,” but that term has never been used derisively in this column. I loved this movie, as surely as I love pie.

On a sad note – and please believe the reason this film is getting great reviews isn’t from sympathy – Shelly was murdered in her Greenwich Village office while “Waitress” was still in post-production. She was 40.

Her husband, Andy Ostroy, has started a foundation to benefit female filmmakers. For information, go to www.adrienneshellyfoundation.org.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]