As the muse of Hal Hartley's indie classics and as writer/director of the critically acclaimed Waitress, Adrienne Shelly was a shining star in the indie film firmament.As the muse of Hal Hartley's indie classics and as writer/director of the critically acclaimed Waitress, Adrienne Shelly was a shining star in the indie film firmament.As the muse of Hal Hartley's indie classics and as writer/director of the critically acclaimed Waitress, Adrienne Shelly was a shining star in the indie film firmament.
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
Photos
Andy Griffith
- Old Joe
- (archive footage)
Adrienne Shelly
- Self
- (archive footage)
Featured reviews
Sad and shocked to learn about Shelly's fate all these years later.
I'm not rating this because there's not really anything special about the doco. Technically it's a simple presentation. I see it more as something for fans of Shelly to find out what happened to her. I felt I needed to learn what happened, as I liked her work from the 90s. It doesn't feel right to give it a score out of 10.
Trust is such a classic. Shelly owns her role in that movie. This doco is a fitting tribute, it shows home footage of Adrienne's life, her work and friends. Shelly's daughter seems to have similar voice characteristics to her mother, that crystal clear tone.
For human life to be violently taken that way, is a great shame of society. We have a long way to go. When it's someone like Shelly who is taken, it makes it more important to do something positive in response. I think this doco and the other work in memory of Shelly is that positive response.
I'm not rating this because there's not really anything special about the doco. Technically it's a simple presentation. I see it more as something for fans of Shelly to find out what happened to her. I felt I needed to learn what happened, as I liked her work from the 90s. It doesn't feel right to give it a score out of 10.
Trust is such a classic. Shelly owns her role in that movie. This doco is a fitting tribute, it shows home footage of Adrienne's life, her work and friends. Shelly's daughter seems to have similar voice characteristics to her mother, that crystal clear tone.
For human life to be violently taken that way, is a great shame of society. We have a long way to go. When it's someone like Shelly who is taken, it makes it more important to do something positive in response. I think this doco and the other work in memory of Shelly is that positive response.
While I thought Adrienne was fairly well done, it also felt self-indulgent.
What happened to her was, of course, tragic. But, how many people experience the same or worse (e.g., genocide of an entire family... loss of a child to drive-by shooting, etc.) that never get to celebrate their loss via a film, much less, feel justice was served--closure, that Andy has. Not only was the perpetrator caught, and immediately, and is set to spend 25 years in prison, even then, Andy feels it's not enough.
It is the lack of gratefulness, all things considered, that is irritating. He doesn't have to endure years of sleepless nights wondering how his loved one met their fate. He doesn't have to feel angst over the lack of justice. And, he doesn't have to walk through life on his own, as someone who lost their entire family does. He has many reasons to feel gratitude and to move from victim to forgiveness. And yet, he practices and models non-forgiveness to their daughter, and stays in a victim role--15 years later.
Even those whose entire families were brutally slaughtered in African nations, find a way to forgive those who senselessly took everything they held dear. Even those wrongly imprisoned for decades, find a way to move past victim/bitterness. And others, whose refusal to let their losses define them, go beyond forgiveness to show compassion. They are the ones who are free. Andy is imprisoned.
Lastly, I felt it irresponsible that Andy essentially imposed the gravity of his sense of losing a mother, for a daughter, onto their daughter. Sophie 'would have' felt her own loss, had she been allowed to find it on her own.
What happened to her was, of course, tragic. But, how many people experience the same or worse (e.g., genocide of an entire family... loss of a child to drive-by shooting, etc.) that never get to celebrate their loss via a film, much less, feel justice was served--closure, that Andy has. Not only was the perpetrator caught, and immediately, and is set to spend 25 years in prison, even then, Andy feels it's not enough.
It is the lack of gratefulness, all things considered, that is irritating. He doesn't have to endure years of sleepless nights wondering how his loved one met their fate. He doesn't have to feel angst over the lack of justice. And, he doesn't have to walk through life on his own, as someone who lost their entire family does. He has many reasons to feel gratitude and to move from victim to forgiveness. And yet, he practices and models non-forgiveness to their daughter, and stays in a victim role--15 years later.
Even those whose entire families were brutally slaughtered in African nations, find a way to forgive those who senselessly took everything they held dear. Even those wrongly imprisoned for decades, find a way to move past victim/bitterness. And others, whose refusal to let their losses define them, go beyond forgiveness to show compassion. They are the ones who are free. Andy is imprisoned.
Lastly, I felt it irresponsible that Andy essentially imposed the gravity of his sense of losing a mother, for a daughter, onto their daughter. Sophie 'would have' felt her own loss, had she been allowed to find it on her own.
I just finished watching this moments ago and I'm still recovering, the tears haven't stopped welling up. This movie came up in the HBO options to stream and I knew nothing else about it. Oddly about a month ago I had the luxury of seeing Rufus Wainwright and Sara Bareilles, two of my favorite singers, perform the song "She Used to be Mine" from the play version of Waitress that felt overly emotional even though I didn't know the song or what it was about or from. I of course had seen and loved the movie, but had no clue it had ever become a musical/play. Cut to today when HBO recommends this documentary, I have no idea it's about the woman who wrote and directed such a lovely memorable movie. The unfairness of it all was not lost on me. She was murdered at the age of 40, oddly the same age her father was when he passed and left her behind to fear an early death. Yet her voice lives on and her project did what she wanted and she was able to find her happiness before going, which somehow feels like the only justice you'll get for watching this devastating doc. It's true you can never know a person from seeing them on tv or in interviews or through stories about them. This still made me care nearly as much about her loss as her closest supporters. What happened to her could happen to anyone and it's a travesty. This was really well put together and had a lot of funny and tender moments as well, not just sadness. It definitely made me want to go back and watch Waitress again to better appreciate her magnum opus. Hopefully her daughter can watch this many times when she's missing her as I wish I could with my aunt/mother figure who passed too soon.
I've always loved actress Adrienne Shelly, since I 1st saw her in the late 80's and always felt like she was a friend in my head, a kindred spirit.
I remember when I watched Waitress and was SO THRILLED and Amazed that she had FULLY Broken through and achieved her Dreams. She made a Beautiful Masterpiece!!! At the time I had No idea of what had happened to her, as I had lost my Father 2 months earlier and was living in a numbed stupor.
I Loved Waitress, All the characters and wonderful actors she had cast were perfection!! I was so thrilled and as I watched the end credits I spotted something that seemed WRONG!! :O I immediately went online to look up Adrienne and now Knew it was TRUE! She was gone! Someone had cruelly and selfishly, Robbed her of her Life, Her Child, Her Husband, Her Family and Her Lifetime Masterpiece (a love letter to her baby, who would now grow up without getting to really know the beautiful, kind, talented and courageous woman her Mother Adrienne Really was!) I just cried... and when I realized that was little Sophie who played Jenna's (Keri Russell's) beautiful little girl Lulu in the movie, I cried MORE!! :(
I was surprised today to see this documentary made by her husband, Andy Ostroy and seeing her beautiful daughter. Sophie, so grown up now and just as beautiful as her Mom, Adrienne. I watched with a huge lump in my chest and my throat.
I can't say more without throwing out spoilers. But if your a fan of Adrienne Shelly, her past work and her Huge Hit movie Waitress, then this is a must see!
The world feels a bit darker without this beautiful and talented woman in it. Even for an ordinary person like me, who only knew her through her works. All I can do is say a Prayer for Adrienne, Sophie, Andy, and all the family, friends and fans who Loved her and Miss her So Much!
I remember when I watched Waitress and was SO THRILLED and Amazed that she had FULLY Broken through and achieved her Dreams. She made a Beautiful Masterpiece!!! At the time I had No idea of what had happened to her, as I had lost my Father 2 months earlier and was living in a numbed stupor.
I Loved Waitress, All the characters and wonderful actors she had cast were perfection!! I was so thrilled and as I watched the end credits I spotted something that seemed WRONG!! :O I immediately went online to look up Adrienne and now Knew it was TRUE! She was gone! Someone had cruelly and selfishly, Robbed her of her Life, Her Child, Her Husband, Her Family and Her Lifetime Masterpiece (a love letter to her baby, who would now grow up without getting to really know the beautiful, kind, talented and courageous woman her Mother Adrienne Really was!) I just cried... and when I realized that was little Sophie who played Jenna's (Keri Russell's) beautiful little girl Lulu in the movie, I cried MORE!! :(
I was surprised today to see this documentary made by her husband, Andy Ostroy and seeing her beautiful daughter. Sophie, so grown up now and just as beautiful as her Mom, Adrienne. I watched with a huge lump in my chest and my throat.
I can't say more without throwing out spoilers. But if your a fan of Adrienne Shelly, her past work and her Huge Hit movie Waitress, then this is a must see!
The world feels a bit darker without this beautiful and talented woman in it. Even for an ordinary person like me, who only knew her through her works. All I can do is say a Prayer for Adrienne, Sophie, Andy, and all the family, friends and fans who Loved her and Miss her So Much!
She will always be the "100% Indie actress" <3, along with fdirector Hal Hartley, it was for me, the Indie cinema era at their prime, before it became more comercial.
Did you know
- TriviaThe Adrienne Shelly Foundation, which is briefly mentioned in this documentary, was founded in 2007 by Shelly's widower, Andy Ostroy. A memorial to her work, it is a nonprofit organization that awards grants to female actors, writers and/or directors of short films, feature films and documentaries. Among the films supported by a Shelly Foundation grant are the features The Forty-Year-Old Version (2020), Night Comes On (2018) and Pariah (2011), and the documentaries Roll Red Roll (2018), Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2017), The Wolfpack (2015) and Freeheld (2007), which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary, Short Subject. The foundation also gave an early short film grant to Chloé Zhao, who under a decade later became the second woman in history to win the Academy Award for Best Director.
- SoundtracksMany the Miles
Written and Performed by Sara Bareilles
- How long is Adrienne?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Color
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