Waiting...

2005 "What happens in the kitchen ends up on the plate."
6.7| 1h34m| R| en
Details

Employees at a Bennigan's-like restaurant (called, creatively enough, Shenanigan's), kill time before their real lives get started. But while they wait, they'll have to deal with picky customers who want their steak cooked to order and enthusiastic managers who want to build the perfect wait staff. Luckily, these employees have effective revenge tactics.

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Reviews

Nonureva Really Surprised!
UnowPriceless hyped garbage
BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
bowmanblue Like many, I only really became - properly - aware of Ryan Reynolds after he finally got the chance to play 'Deadpool.' Since then, I've been through some of his previous work and I can't help but feel that he plays pretty much the same character (dare I say he simply plays Ryan Reynolds?!) in everything he's ever been in. I know that may sound a little dismissive of his acting ability, but all I can think of is that old phrase 'if it ain't broke... don't fix it!' And Ryan Reynolds' act is very watchable and keeps bringing in the money at the Box Office.Here, he plays - arguably - another version of himself (or Deadpool, depending on how you want to look at it) who's the oldest waiter in a restaurant filled with younger staff. The film follows a day in the life of the team as they do their best to deal with their own personal problems and - more importantly - the dreaded customers.If you're thinking 'this sounds a little bit like Kevin Smith's Clerks' then you're probably right. There are some definite similarities. It's very low budget and has a real 'raw' feel about it, plus the jokes are generally generated through how staff deal with awful customers in restaurants (but most gags work if you've worked in any job that's 'customer-facing'). Despite definitely being classed as a 'comedy' I wouldn't say there are that many 'side-splitting' moments, however I found I sat tight with a decent-size smile on my face throughout the ninety minute run-time. The humour is also quite 'adult' so expect 'American Pie' levels of humour.It's definitely a 'Ryan Reynolds' film and its success relies heavily on his sheer natural charm and likability. Anna Farris is about the other main name you'll recognise, but she does seem a little underused for what she's capable of bringing to a comedy film.Overall, if you've ever worked in a job that involves dealing with the public, you'll sympathise with the waiters/waitresses you meet here. It's a decent enough comedy that definitely has more 'hit' jokes than misses.
Dunham16 The theme is employees of a business put up with behind the scenes problems and nuisances but if needing the job somehow pull through and continue to collect their pay. The hit Hollywood movie IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME 1949 and the hit British situation comedy ARE YOU BEING SERVED 1975 through 1975-82 are prime examples of this genre at its finest. WAITING 2005 is a Hollywood comedy which fictionalizes the problems behind the scenes of employees at a chain restaurant which for some reason is visualized by the photographer and editor as resembling many branches of the real Applebees chain. The movie focus on crude humor melded to public male nudity. What seems fascinating is the prediction in this well made and edited film of the general historic failure to soon follow of branches of chain restaurants as more and more emigres to American urban centers in which chain restaurants often focus their branches recently relocated from more rural areas of low population density. If not in fact today frankly preferring takeout when this is a local option they otherwise prefer the food court in which the customers line up at the counter of the particular takeout they prefer at that hour to be invited if they prefer to consume their meal at tables within the facility but not managed by the counter staff at which they order their food.In retrospect this level of chain restaurant branch which once flourished in neighborhoods in which the local patrons preferred to regularly visit these establishments for regular meals is today on the way out on the American landscape.
SnoopyStyle It's shenanigans that the workers at Shenanigan's get up to. It's a suburban chain restaurant. Dan (David Koechner) is the manager. Monty (Ryan Reynolds) is a smart mouth server who takes trainee Mitch (John Francis Daley) under his wing. Dan offers Dean (Justin Long) the assistant manager position. Serena (Anna Faris) and Amy (Kaitlin Doubleday) are the hot waitresses. Then there are all the other workers played by Luis Guzmán, Chi McBride, Rob Benedict, Alanna Ubach, Vanessa Lengies, and Dane Cook.There are so many great comedic talents in this, and yet I can't find enough comedy in this. Writing/director Rob McKittrick is putting so much ridiculous comedy that some of it is bound to stick. Sure some of it sticks, but it's not enough. Maybe it's more funny to people who actually worked at a place like this. It's a scatter-shot comedy. It needs to concentrate on one single POV. I'd probably pick either Reynolds or Daley. Following so many characters kinda scatter the comedic effects.
sharpobject2424 In sharp contrast to the majority of advocates for this movie, I can provide refutation to the idea of its esoteric appeal because I also have worked in my share of restaurants and found no pleasure in watching this sleaze. You don't have to have such experience to become easily nauseated by the superficial atmosphere of community and collectivism that is about as force-fed in this flick as a real dead end job. I will not bother to write much about this one because it simply doesn't deserve the attention, and aspire only to warn others to avoid it unless they happen to be a preteen or otherwise entirely devoid of taste. If it weren't for the competent editing and cinematography this movie would have scored absolutely no stars from me, but instead I give it two for the effort. In a nutshell, the funniest actors in this movie (Long, Faris) play straight roles that brink pretentious, and the wild card in Ryan Reynolds is under utilized by a typical typecast of being "the dick". And WHAT a dick he is. His character would be the sole source of WAITING's sexist undertones if the women characters weren't so poorly written. The plot is shallow, as expected, but is made worse by the futile effort to portray a seriously conflicted protagonist who juggles a mirage of "important" choices. The intended setpiece is a scene consisting of the restaurant staff collaborating to botch the dinner of some unruly customer in the least imaginative, yet most disgusting way possible. Yes, the sole source of amusement in this movie is gross-out humor, placing it in the category of the lowest form of entertainment there is besides pornography.