In theaters

WAITRESS, written and directed by Adrienne Shelly, 104 minutes, rated PG-13.

Unfortunately, the new Adrienne Shelly movie “Waitress” is the last Adrienne Shelly movie.

The writer-actor-director was murdered Nov. 1, 2006, by Diego Pillco, a 19-year-old thug who grew so tired of Shelly’s complaints of the loud noise coming from his New York City apartment that he decided to end her life by knocking her unconscious and, in an effort to make her death look like a suicide, hanging her in a bathtub with a bedsheet.

Some readers might wonder who Shelly is. The short answer is that she was one of those gifted character actors you recognize and appreciate when you see them onscreen, but whose name eludes you because, in this case, stardom eluded her.

Over the years, Shelly appeared in a number of films, most notably 1989’s “The Unbelievable Truth” and 1990’s “Trust,” and later in episodes of HBO’s “Oz” and NBC’s “Law & Order,” as well as in 2005’s “Factotum” with Keanu Reeves.

Watching “Waitress,” which Shelly wrote, directed and in which she has a major supporting role, there’s the sense that her fortunes might have changed after this movie, which underscores just how ridiculously tragic her death is.

The film stars Keri Russell (“Felicity”) as Jenna, a gifted pie maker and waitress in a small Southern town whose imagination, at least when it comes to conceiving new pies, knows no limits.

Her pies match her moods. Since she’s stuck in a bad marriage with Earl (Jeremy Sisto) and recently learned she’s pregnant with his child, which she wants about as much as she wants Earl, Jenna makes such classics as “I Hate My Husband Pie,” “Baby Screaming Its Head Off in the Middle of the Night and Ruining My Life Pie,” “Pregnant Miserable Self-Pitying Loser Pie” and “Earl Murders Me Because I’m Having an Affair Pie,” which runs blood-red with the syrup of mashed raspberries.

About that last pie. Upon going to her gynecologist to address the unwanted situation of her “damn baby,” as she calls it, Jenna finds that her doctor is phasing into retirement and that a new doctor, the studly Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion, “Serenity”), has taken over the practice. The relationship that steams between them is heated with reckless, comic abandon, with Jenna’s co-workers, Dawn (Shelly) and Becky (Cheryl Hines), offering raised eyebrows and halting advice as they freely tamper with their own lives.

Russell is very good here, easily winning audiences over in a tricky role that could have been abrasive if the actress didn’t find unexpected ways to make her character so appealing. Her relationship with Andy Griffith’s grumbling Old Joe, for instance, who owns the diner where Jenna works, is shaded with nuance. You don’t sneak anything past Old Joe – not a pregnancy, not a bad marriage, and certainly not an affair – and to Jenna’s credit, she doesn’t try. The bond they create is satisfying and real.

Filled with small moments that resonate with restraint, this subtle, funny, character-driven movie initially might be viewed with curiosity and sentiment – but no film, if it’s bad, can sustain either for long. Shelly’s legacy and her gift is something Diego Pillco couldn’t take from her – a strong movie, our gratitude and in the end, our respect.

Grade: A-

On DVD

DEAD SILENCE, directed by James Wan, written by Leigh Whannell, 90 minutes, rated R.

James Wan’s “Dead Silence” features a ventriloquist’s dummy named Billy who comes to life in crashes of thunder and lightning to savagely eat the tongues of those who come too close to it. So right away, you know whether the movie is for you.

For the rest of us, things are predictably bleak.

The movie, which Wan based on a screenplay by Leigh Whannell (his co-creator on the equally dumb “Saw” franchise), will surprise absolutely nobody that, so far, it’s the worst movie of the year.

The film sends out rays of stupidity. It’s an orgy of bad choices and miscalculations. It’s pointless, it’s shabbily produced, it isn’t scary, it fears humor. It just is, which isn’t enough. The best that can be said for it is that it does feature a title that at least gets to the heart of what the movie elicits from those who see it.

The film stars Ryan Kwanten as Jamie, who receives a mysterious package that, once opened, turns out to reveal Billy himself. Since neither Ryan nor his wife, Lisa (Laura Regan), know what to make of the doll (in Jamie’s hometown, dolls are considered trouble), they stop trying and instead order takeout. Trouble is, when Jamie returns with the food, he finds that Lisa herself has become dinner – her jaw and her tongue are missing. Messy!

Could Billy also have had hunger pangs? Jamie has his suspicions. So does Donnie Wahlberg’s Detective Lipton, though his suspicions have nothing to do with Billy and everything to do with Jamie.

Still, since he doesn’t arrest Jamie for Lisa’s murder, Jamie conveniently is allowed to dive into the rest of the plot, which involves his uneasy relationship with his father and hot new stepmother (Bob Gunton, Amber Valletta), and the powers of evil that boil within the angry she-ghost Mary Shaw (Judith Roberts), a dead ventriloquist whose dark past with dummies fuels her rage.

What “Dead Silence” misses is what the “Child’s Play” franchise embraced. If you’re going to feature a killer doll in your horror film, you better go for the camp aspect of it, let loose and have a little fun. Otherwise, you’ve somehow taken this crap way too seriously and cut your own throat.

That’s the case with “Dead Silence.” This movie couldn’t make a clown happy.

Grade: F

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays and Fridays in Lifestyle, weekends in Television as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.

THE VIDEO/DVD CORNER

Renting a video or a DVD? BDN film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Akeelah and the Bee – B+

Army of Darkness HD DVD – B+

The Ant Bully – B+

Apocalypto – C

Arthur and the Invisibles – C

Babel – A-

Because I Said So – C

The Black Dahlia – C-

Blood Diamond – C+

Bobby – C-

Borat – B+

Breach – B+

Breaking and Entering – C-

Bridge to Terabitha DVD and Blu-Ray – B+

Cars – C

Casino Royale – A

Catch and Release – C

Charlotte’s Web – B+

Children of Men – A

The Cowboys – B-

Days of Glory Blu-Ray – B+

The Dead Girl – A-

Dead Silence – F

Deja vu – C+

The Departed – A

The Devil Wears Prada – B+

Dreamgirls – B

Employee of the Month – C

Eragon – C

Everyone’s Hero – C+

Fail Safe – A-

Fast Food Nation – B-

Feast – C+

Flags of Our Fathers – B+

Flushed Away – B+

Flyboys – C-

The Fountain – D

Freedomland – C-

Friends with Money – B

Ghost Rider – C-

The Good German – C

The Good Shepherd – B-

Half Nelson – A-

Half Past Dead 2 – D

Hannibal Rising – C

Happy Feet – A-

The History Boys – B+

A History of Violence – A

The Holiday – C+

Hollywoodland – C

The Illusionist – B+

Infamous – B+

Invincible – B

Jackass Number Two – B

Kinky Boots – B+

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – B+

Last Holiday – B

The Last King of Scotland – B+

Letters from Iwo Jima – B+

Little Children – A-

Little Miss Sunshine – B+

The Lucille Ball Collection – B-

The Marine – C+

Match Point – A

Miami Vice – C

Monster House – B+

Munich – A-

Music and Lyrics – B

My Super Ex-Girlfriend – A-

Night at the Museum – C+

Notes on a Scandal – B+

The Painted Veil – B+

Pan’s Labyrinth – A

The Prestige – B+

The Pursuit of Happyness – B-

The Queen – A-

Robin Hood: Season One – B+

Rocky Balboa – B+

A Scanner Darkly – B+

Sherrybaby – B+

Shut Up & Sing – A-

Smokin’ Aces – C-

Snakes on a Plane – A-

This Film is Not Yet Rated – B-

United 93 – A

Venus – B+

Volver – A

The Wicker Man – BOMB

World Trade Center – A