Waiting... Review
Posted by Chad Webb on 10.14.2005
You’ll be “Waiting…” to get your money back
Ryan Reynolds: Monty
Anna Faris: Serena
Justin Long: Dean
David Koechner: Dan
John Francis Daily: Mitch
Luis Guzman: Raddimus
Chi McBride: Bishop
Directed by Rob McKittrick
Release Date: October 7, 2005
Running Time: 1 hour and 93 minutes
Rated R for strong crude and sexual humor, pervasive language, and some drug
use.
Reviewed by Chad Webb
At this point, all the critics and moviegoers have basically helped dig the
grave for this movie. "Waiting…" was number 7 at the box office its opening
weekend, and for good reason. Over the past ten years or so, viewers were
given classic comedies about different tedious and monotonous occupations
that people posses. "Clerks" and "Office Space" are two movies that will
live on forever for many future audiences to enjoy, but this year has been
an appalling year for comedies. Sadly, "Waiting…" is just one enormous
cliché.
It begins with Mitch (John Francis Daily), who is a trainee, and is about to be educated by Monty (Ryan Reynolds) on a day in the life of an employee of the Shenaniganz restaurant. The first thing he teaches Mitch is the penis game in which the object is do whatever one can to make another employee look at your genitalia. The employees can maneuver their genitalia in various ways and depending on what shape it is in when the employee looks at it, depends on how many times they can kick the employee in the butt and call them a fag. You should have seen the looks on peoples faces when I explained this to them. Monty is veteran at Shenaniganz who has no goals in life except sleeping with young girls and partying with the employees of Shenaniganz. Monty goes to community college with his best friend and co-worker, Dean (Justin Long), who has just been offered an assistant manager's position. As Dean is pondering his decision, Mitch meets more of his fellow employees such as Calvin, an insecure worker who cannot urinate in public. The head cook is Raddimus (Luis Guzman), who invented the penis game, and the hostess is Natasha (Vanessa Lengies), who is a minor, and being sought after by Monty and the restaurant manager Dan. In short, "Waiting…" tells the tale of what it’s like to work at a restaurant and deal
with the frustrations other employees bring and all the problems one encounters with the various types of customers.
For starters, Ryan Reynolds has yet to prove that he has much strength as an
actor. His character, Monty, is a drinker who likes to hit on girls. How
many times has the public seen a character like this? He displays himself
as a character that is classless and offensive, but that is supposed to be
comical and cool to moviegoers. Justin Long's performance demonstrates
that he will not be able to gain solid roles that are any higher that what
his role in "Dodgeball" was. It is apparent that his character, Dean, is
facing a crossroads in life, but his acting has no personality or emotion to
obtain interest from those in the theater. Anna Faris stars as the main
female role, and basically produces no more moments of laughter than she did
in her outlandish part from the "Scary Movie" films. Chi McBride performs
as one of the most obscure and unusual cooks in history. As Bishop, he is a
cook who does not really do a whole lot besides acting as the restaurant
guidance counselor.
"Waiting…" does have its moments, but the absence of that creative edge of
humor that would have taken this film from nothing to something will still
be contemplated. One cannot help but laugh at Luis Guzman's quirky
mannerisms from time to time in this role. This movie will fall at the
bottom of his resume. The other bright spot of "Waiting…" is former "Freaks
and Geeks" star John Francis Daily who is incredibly underused. He does
what he can with his character that is attentive and helpless, but in over
his head.
One can be appreciative of the fact that Rob McKittrick wrote and directed
this film due to the fact that he was a waiter at one time. In an
interview he gave regarding the film, he stated that he wanted make
"Waiting…" similar to "Clerks." If this was his plan, then he should have
watched "Clerks" more than once. McKittrick admits to a number of things,
one of which is the fact that he exaggerated some scenes of the movie.
Scenes like the penis game and the sabotage of a customer's dinner are
exaggerated a hundred times over. He did demonstrate positively the
various types of customers one can experience, but the rest of the downfalls
smother anything good. He also attests that this film is not flawless.
Well Mr. McKittrick, that is an understatement.
The above-mentioned films about jobs have entertained viewers with jokes
that were unique and uproarious, but at the same time those movies possessed
a plot that kept the audience in suspense until the end. It is obvious now
that even the trailer did not generate enough laughs to bring more people to
the theater. With no solid flow, "Waiting…" feels like one set-up after
another as it goes to childish extremes in order to create laughs that will
leave the viewer with a feeling of emptiness.
The 411: It is a shame that fewer filmmakers are not willing to go that extra mile to create a comedy with style and presence and not just a funny movie. "Waiting…" is one cliché after another with no plot or character development. Let's just pretend this movie did not exist.
