Review of Waiting (1974) by Jennifer R — 19 Nov 2009

WAITING... (2005).

Dir. Rob McKittrick.

Cast. Ryan Reynolds, Justin Long, Anna FarisWaiting... chronicles a day - or an evening - in a restaurant. We get to meet all the over-stylized characters one after another and we are supposed to care about them or think they are funny. Im not sure if director Rob McKittrick tried to make his film somehow realistic but its not. Everything is just a bit too underlined, hoping to get the viewer to think «Hey thats so true!», but its not.I worked in both the back and the front of a restaurant and some stuff dont make sense while other seems right, but exaggerated. Where do these people get the time to go smoke a cigarette three at the times during dinner rush is a mystery to me.Waiting... is highly influenced by Clerks and similar films but it lacks wit. Its hardly ever that funny and when it is, its just unintentional cause we dont laugh for the right reason. All characters are just one-line joke repeated over and over. There is one though, coming out of the lot, Justin Long's Dean, who seems to be a bit more real and Long has some charms and gives a fairly good performance. Anna Faris is underused just as are lots of other actors while Ryan Reynolds shows he has comedic timing but he cant really do anything here with the bad vulgar lines he is given.This film could have worked if it had tried to be wittier with less gross out joke and a bit more sense. Its not as terrible seemed, but I cant say Im genuinely surprised by it cause I didnt really have any real expectation.. Kudos for the long take in the middle of the film following around in the restaurant, it felt well-inspired but unfortunately they had to show it in fast-forward. All of that being said, I didnt hate it.