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| Director
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Rob McKittrick
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| Starring
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Ryan Reynolds
Anna Faris
John Francis Daley |
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| The plot of
Waiting... |
Mitch
(Daley), a new employee at Shenanigans, a restaurant
known for its impossibly cheery staff, is introduced
to "The Game," a competition to be the
eatery's top waiter. |
Waiting...
Movie Review
|
Review by Dennis
Harvey:
The wait for laughs lasts the entire length of "Waiting
...," first feature from writer-director Rob McKittrickRob
McKittrick that aims to be a "Clerks"-type
comedy set in a chain restaurant but ends up somewhere
below a "Porky's" sequel. What talented B-list
mainstream thesps like Ryan ReynoldsRyan Reynolds and
Anna FarisAnna Faris are doing in this C-grade timekiller
is a mystery. Even more mysterious is pic's braving
theatrical waters when it practically screams "rental."
HardtopHardtop career will be drive-through speedy,
with ancillary likelier to cash in on project's appetizing-enough
appearance. Plotless series of tepid gags is set during
one afternoon-to-closing shift at Shenanigan'z Bar &
Grill, a middlebrow eatery in the vein of Applebee's
or Sizzler. This is the first day at work for high school-age
trainee Mitch (John Francis Daley), whose nonplussed
reactions are meant to underline just how wild 'n' wacky
the staff here is....more..
Review By Tim
Knight:
You may never want to
eat out again after seeing Waiting, writer/director
Rob McKittrick's raunchy, disgusting, and completely
sophomoric ensemble comedy set in a Bennigan's-style
restaurant. It's also occasionally quite funny, with
a few choice zingers rising from the muck of penis jokes
and gross-out slapstick that passes for a screenplay.
A likable cast headed by Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder)
and Justin Long (Herbie: Fully Loaded) gamely navigates
this all-out raunchfest from first-timer McKittrick,
who cites the films of Kevin Smith (Clerks) and Richard
Linklater (Dazed and Confused) as major influences.
Given the film's flat visual style and rambling, "slice
of life"-style narrative, it's obvious that McKittrick
studied those directors' films closely—perhaps
too closely for Waiting to come across as anything more
than a crude imitation. The film's plot, such as it
is, depicts a day in the life of the wait staff, cooks,
dishwashers and bus boys at ShenaniganZ. When not hitting
on underage girls or "training" a shy new
hire named Mitch (John Francis Daley), Monty (Reynolds)
spends his shift lobbing sarcastic one-liners at the
rest of the staff....More..
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