A day in the life of the employees of a chain restaurant.
COMEDY
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Waiting (2005)Written and Directed by Rob McKittrick
Starring Ryan Reynolds, Justin Long, Anna Faris, David Koechner, Luis Guzmán, Chi McBride, John Francis Daley, Rob Benedict, Alanna Ubach, Kaitlin Doubleday, Vanessa Lengies, Dane Cook |
While I didn't think Waiting was laugh-out-loud funny, I do think it should be required viewing for anyone who works in food service. As a former restaurant employee myself, this film gave me flashbacks to my time there and I found it all too relatable, even the gross, stupid shit. It's all real, every restaurant does dumb shit behind the scenes, and people are always shitty even when they don't try to be. With that out of the way, I thought the film had almost no plot, focused way too much on the penis game, and its homophobia has aged terribly.
Dean (Long) hates his job, is confused about his future, and doesn't know what he wants out of life. He works at Shenaniganz, a kitschy theme restaurant with a surly staff, with his best friend Monty (Reynolds, with his usual schtick), and various understandably unpleasant coworkers. His manager (Koechner) offers him a promotion, and Dean knows it would mean one step closer to never leaving this place. Throughout the day, we get to see how these people maintain service with a smile, and it's absolutely hellish. My favorite running gag involved the newbie, Mitch (Daley), never being allowed to talk, and boy does it pay off in the end. Overall, though, the jokes just didn't land. I wanted to like Waiting. I'd heard for years that anyone whose worked in the service industry would totally get it. And they were right, I do. It makes you realize you're not alone. Every restaurant has the same douchey manager, the same weirdo dishwashers, the same aggressively angry kitchen, and the same teenage servers with a painted-on grin. It's all one big chain restaurant. For that, you should watch it. Just be prepared for a lot of dick jokes. |