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“She broke the
cardinal rule: Don’t ever fuck
with the people that handle your food!”
In the end, “Waiting” is yet another
“Clerks” rehash, but alas, it’s a rehash that works. And why? Mainly
it’s because it manages to cast the talents of folks who can actually
handle comedy; Luis Guzman, Ryan Reynolds, Justin Long, Anna Faris, the
list goes on. Suffice it to say, the cast is an all-star cavalcade of
comedy actors, save for the likes of Andy Milonakis. “Waiting” is also
supposedly a film that perfectly captures what it’s like to be a waiter
or work in the restaurant industry, and goes behind the more disgusting
facts of working in a restaurant, including the restlessness of its
workers to keep from going insane. “Waiting” may not be a comedy
classic, but for what it is, it made me laugh quite often.
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A young trainee just signed on to the “Shenaniganz!”
restaurant, one of the many themed family restaurants
currently getting its ass kicked by “Denny’s,” and through
Mitch (John Francis Daley of “Freaks and Geeks” royalty), we
manage to experience a hall of fame of weirdos and mental
cases, all of whom reside in the restaurant and serve our
food. The film is very low key for what it entails, as it
prefers to more often show us the ins and outs of putting on
an act for customers and cooking, rather than focus on the
individual characters. |
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And when we actually get to them, McKittrick
puts the cast’s talents on display.
Ryan Reynolds almost steals the show as the
wise ass Monty, along with Anna Faris who is slightly downplayed, but
still hilarious, and folks like Dane Cook, David Koechner, Alanna Ubach,
and Chi McBride all pull in laughs, respectively. But once we get to the
work place, and the hectic atmosphere that comes with the territory,
“Waiting” thankfully comes to life, and draws many a laughs. There are
so many memorable moments here, and the cast manages to handle the
forced clever dialogue with finesse, all winding down with a hilarious
finale that keeps it down, rather than attempting slapstick. “Waiting”
may be a rehash, but it’s a fun rehash, just the same.
Although I could have done with the Jay and
Silent Bob rip-offs Nate and T-Dog who were clearly nothing but padding,
and characters that were so one-dimensional they were practically
cartoon characters. There is no reason whatsoever for McKittrick to have
included these two morons in the film other than hoping to garner a
wider demographic. These characters not only take up space but bring the
film to a screeching halt quite often, acting as obvious padding for a
film that doesn’t really need it. I wanted to kill these two characters,
and it helps the feelings when both actors completely crush any of the
pre-established energy built by the other cast members.
In the end it’s a lot less of a “Clerks”
rehash, and more another “Barbershop” take, and it works because of the
tight script, and great performances. Some jokes fall flat, and some
characters are pure padding, but it made me laugh. Out loud, a lot, and
wildly, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
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