2008 Woodie Awards
Slacker comedy has laughs, little substance
By Nick Gligor
Issue date: 10/14/05 Section: Entertainment
Let's face it... almost all of us have had crappy jobs. Jobs so monotonous, so mundane, that they're maddening. We've cleaned up messes, tolerated rude customers, worked overtime, got headaches from whiny children, been reprimanded for misconduct, heard more information about a coworker's personal life than we would ever want to and, of course, had to deal with a loud, cocky, tyrannical boss.
The life of Rob McKittrick is no different than ours. Working as a waiter at a chain of lousy Florida restaurants, Rob began to pen a movie script based on his experiences. Eight years later, he has finally delivered "Waiting..." to the general public, which just so happens to include a majority of the aforementioned scenarios.
The story revolves around the employees of Shenanigan's restaurant. Veteran waiter Monty (Ryan Reynolds) serves as the resident wise-ass womanizer who's always more concerned about the party after his shift. He constantly hits on the sexy underage hostess Natasha (Vanessa Lengies), who constantly leads on the manager Dan (David Koechner).
The leading ladies Serena (Anna Faris) and Amy (the lovely Kaitlin Doubleday) are just trying to do their jobs. The kitchen is run by Raddimus (Luis Guzmán) who is fixated on having sex with his girlfriend. Stand-up comedic genius Dane Cook has an entertaining role as the cook Floyd. There's also chain-smoking Naomi (Alanna Ubach) who hates everyone and Calvin (Robert Patrick Benedict) who can't urinate in public. The two busboys Nick and T-Dog are the token stoners played by Andy Milonakis and Max Kasch, respectively.
The only real heroes of the movie are Dean (Justin Long) and Bishop (Chi McBride). Dean is an honest young man who actually wants to do something with his life outside of working at Shenanigan's after he learns one of his former high school classmates has become a high-paid engineer. Bishop serves as a psychologist to the troubled employees and is key in helping Dean resolve his biggest conflict at the end.
The life of Rob McKittrick is no different than ours. Working as a waiter at a chain of lousy Florida restaurants, Rob began to pen a movie script based on his experiences. Eight years later, he has finally delivered "Waiting..." to the general public, which just so happens to include a majority of the aforementioned scenarios.
The story revolves around the employees of Shenanigan's restaurant. Veteran waiter Monty (Ryan Reynolds) serves as the resident wise-ass womanizer who's always more concerned about the party after his shift. He constantly hits on the sexy underage hostess Natasha (Vanessa Lengies), who constantly leads on the manager Dan (David Koechner).
The leading ladies Serena (Anna Faris) and Amy (the lovely Kaitlin Doubleday) are just trying to do their jobs. The kitchen is run by Raddimus (Luis Guzmán) who is fixated on having sex with his girlfriend. Stand-up comedic genius Dane Cook has an entertaining role as the cook Floyd. There's also chain-smoking Naomi (Alanna Ubach) who hates everyone and Calvin (Robert Patrick Benedict) who can't urinate in public. The two busboys Nick and T-Dog are the token stoners played by Andy Milonakis and Max Kasch, respectively.
The only real heroes of the movie are Dean (Justin Long) and Bishop (Chi McBride). Dean is an honest young man who actually wants to do something with his life outside of working at Shenanigan's after he learns one of his former high school classmates has become a high-paid engineer. Bishop serves as a psychologist to the troubled employees and is key in helping Dean resolve his biggest conflict at the end.
