One of the sweetest movies of the year, Waitress is a genuine delight. This charmer stars Keri Russell as Jenna, a server in a small-town Southern diner whose specialty is making scrumptious pies. As sweet as her life is in that respect, things are sour at home, especially after her newly discovered pregnancy annoys her hot-headed hubby Earl (Jeremy Sisto). Jenna seeks solace from her workmates, Dawn (writer/director Adrienne Shelly) and Becky (Cheryl Hines), her caring but absent-minded gynecologist (Nathan Fillion) and the cantankerous owner of the diner (Andy Griffith). Wonderfully realized, winningly acted and terrifically entertaining, this film is a real crowd-pleaser, albeit one with a sad story behind it: Shelly was murdered a few months before the film received raves at the Sundance Film Festival and was picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight.

Shelf Talk: Low-budget Waitress proved to be the little indie that could, riding the positive buzz from Sundance to take in nearly $20 million and garner fans in arthouses and multiplexes alike. The film’s DVD is sure to score extremely well with fans of Russell, who rode high back at the beginning of the decade in TV’s Felicity, and those who already saw the movie in theaters and want to make it part of their library. Its beguiling and heartfelt nature adds to its repeatability factor, which will help the movie become a surefire DVD hit and a potentially strong gift candidate for Christmas and beyond. Fox will be fanning business with print and Internet advertising.