WAITRESS proved writer, director and actress Adrienne Shelly's final film.

She was murdered in November 2006, shortly before Waitress was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. A 19-year-old construction worker confessed to killing her during an argument over noise.

Knowing all that, you can't help but approach Waitress - written when Shelly was pregnant with a daughter - differently than you might another movie.

This romantic tale of Southern small town life has Shelly as one of three waitresses in Joe's Diner. Cheryl Hines plays another, with Keri Russell as the centre of attention as pie-baking queen Jenna. She has a pie for every occasion, reflecting what's going on in her life.

Their titles, I Hate My Husband Pie to I Don't Want Earl's Baby Pie, tell you that she's not happy with her lot. Husband Earl (Sisto, from TV's Six Feet Under) is a violent brute whose macho male attitude to his wife is horrible to behold. She dreams of winning a pie contest and using the cash to escape from his clutches. Before that can happen, she meets and falls for the new doctor in town Dr Pomatter (Fillion, from Serenity).

Her unwanted pregnancy, by her husband, threatens to hamper their attempts to be together.

Russell is fine as the pie-baking heroine for whom you're rooting to leave Earl (preferably after kicking him hard in the crutch) and find a new life for herself.

And the pies look mouth-watering good.

Stars: Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion, Cheryl Hines, Adrienne Shelly, Jeremy Sisto, Andy Griffith
Running time: 107 mins
Rating: Three stars