Shenanigan's is a restaurant with great service, excellent food and a family friendly atmosphere. Or at least that's what the advertisers want you to believe. For what goes on behind the scenes is anything but friendly. WAITING tells the story of the workers who endure all of the complaints, mistakes and problems that occur within one day. However, by no means is this a serious film. Instead, it takes the easy way out and manages to become a gross-out comedy full of raunchy humor and sexual innuendos. Despite a fine cast, I fully expected this to be a horrible film. But instead I was pleasantly surprised. While not a great movie at all, WAITING still manages to be much better than the ridiculous trailers seem to suggest.

Each worker has their own special quirk that makes their character unique. Monty (Ryan Reynolds) is the unpronounced leader of the gang and has a thing for young co-worker Natasha (Vanessa Lengies). Dean (Justin Long) is a waiter with the opportunity of either becoming a manager or moving on to bigger and better things. He is somewhat involved with the shy Amy (Kaitlin Doubleday) but can't fully express his feelings for her. And finally Serena (Anna Faris) is the friendliest of the group and offers support to those in need - except Monty, her ex. The rest of the characters have smaller roles but each get their opportunity to shine. Some succeed while others miserably fail.

This isn't the sort of film that requires excellent acting skills, but there are a few bright spots. Alanna Ubach steals the show as the bitchy Naomi, a waitress with anger management problems. Ryan Reynolds exhibits shades of VAN WILDER in his character's persona, using the same laid back attitude and still remaining likable. Justin Long is also decent as well. Kaitlin Doubleday is pretty cute as Amy, but really doesn't get enough time to fully develop her character.

The one thing I was disappointed by, however, was the lack of Anna Faris! She is a great and underrated comedian who stole the show in the SCARY MOVIE films and THE HOT CHICK, yet here she doesn't get nearly enough screentime to show her true abilities. She is very likable though and is easily the friendliest and most accepting, but she really only gets one scene where she can display her talent. She does the best with what she is given, but she deserved much more screentime. Thankfully she co-stars in another film with Reynolds this Thanksgiving. That film, entitled JUST FRIENDS, seems to give her much more to work with.

Now on to the weak links in the cast. Luis Guzman is really annoying and mediocre here and his character isn't likable in the slightest. He simply comes off as a sex fiend who cares about no one but himself. Andy Milonakis and Max Kasch are ridiculous and unfunny as two wannabe rapper busboys. David Koechner tries to pull off an amusing performance, but instead he comes off as creepy instead of hilarious. Patrick Benedict is horrible and grating, giving the worst performance in the film. The rest of the cast is fine, but nothing spectacular.

The thing that most viewers may be turned off by is the gross-out factor. I'm not going to lie, this film is kind of disgusting. There are things that go on in the kitchen that will make you never want to send your food back again. I turned away in the now infamous "medium rare steak" scene, which has been constantly highlighted in the advertising. I also found the constant genitalia jokes quite annoying. They were mildly amusing at first but then they got really repetitive.

Overall, WAITING is pretty much a mixed bag. However, in no way is it as bad as the trailers make it out to be. It's definitely a flawed film, but there are enough likable actors and memorable laughs to make this worth seeing.

7/10 (B-)

Muy Bueno!

9.0/10 A-

Waiting.... for a laugh. I got a few, namely from the hilarious Alanna Ubach as the disgruntled waitress Naomi. Her outbursts, while vulgar, had me in stitches. Otherwise, the movie was particularly stale. I got a rouse out of the chefs, but after a while their antics grew old. Anna Farris was particularly unfunny, considering she normally shines (I plan on suffering through another unfunny performance from Ryan Reynolds to see her in Just Friends). A few one liners and one golden performances couldn't save Waiting, which never quite lived up to the greatness of similar films (did anyone get reminded of Office Space?). For now, Waiting may be remembered by those who've seen it as the flick that failed to capture the quirks of the over-the-top staff at Shenaniganz. For mild amusement, this messy comedy gets a C+.

It had some good laughs, but it wasn't as good as I had hoped. Decent, though.

B-

B

One of the funnier movies released this year. Naomi, Reynolds, and the end credits had me in stitches. All the actors did fine jobs actually. Only complaint is that Anna Faris got 0 screentime, compared to the others she was a complete background character. It had some problems, but it was able to move past them to get to the laughs.

I have worked in the restaurant industry since 1998 so I am biased. But this movie was great. and renolds is yummy.

B+

Pretty horrible movie. I really don't remember laughing once. The ending is the only thing I liked.

-C-

2nd funniest movie of 2005, after the 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN.

It works well if you've worked in the service industry, as it nails to types of personalities you encounter.

A+

It was OK nothing really great, but it did had some funny moments and some of the characters were great!

B-

I agree completely.

Waiting, coming from a guy who has worked as a waiter/bartender for 10 years, is the funniest film of the year. It obviously helps if you have worked in teh service industry, but this film had me in stitches.

9.5/10

What a surprise. I don't think the movie is for everyone, but I thik you should at least check it out. By no means is it the funniest film even of the year. However, the movie kept a wonderful blend of completely over-the-top humor and realism. I don't know if it helps if you've worked in the industry. I work in the kitchens at a local place, so maybe I can relate a bit better. Overall though, I have to give props to the realism of the movie, which was the biggets surprise for me, especially since it was almost exclusively a gross-out comedy.

B

I think Ryan Reynolds is kinda smug and annoying, but I did think some of his dry wit here was occasionally amusing.

But other than that, it's an hour and a half of one long-running, unfunny penis joke.

C.

I would agree with that. It had its moments, but it was overall not as good as I had hoped.

C

B+


What a huge surprise! I rented it a while ago, expecting a standad mildly amusing comedy and got a real riot! Admittedly a very shallow and stupid one with some apparent, yet unimportant "plot", but the jokes were really great, especially during the first half hour of the film. The whole "penis showing"-game was pure hilarity!

Just watched it again last night, Ryan Reynolds and Anna Farris don't get nearly the respect they deserve. I think Reynolds is the new Chevy Chase/ Bill Murray, but he just hasn't been reached yet, and Farris is awesome. This movie is definitely rewatchable, B+

I remember really liking this movie. I should go buy it on dvd hmmmm.

B+

Agreed. He has the charisma and can be very funny. Unless he's in Van Wilder (which was pretty crap).