0
0
In 1999, Mike Judge’s cult favorite, .php >Office Space, took viewers inside the secret lives of cubicle dwellers. Now, first-time writer-director Rob McKittrick exposes the secret, behind-the-scenes lives of restaurant workers in Waiting…, a film that restaurant-goers should view at their own risk.
Ryan Reynolds leads the cast as Monty, a smooth, hard-partying, womanizing waiter at ShenaniganZ, your friendly neighborhood bar and grill. It’s Monty’s job to introduce stunned newcomer Mitch (John Francis Daley) to the ins and outs of life at ShenaniganZ—but instead of explaining the finer points of his new job as a waiter, Monty introduces Mitch to what really goes on behind the scenes.
Throughout his first shift, Mitch meets the rest of the staff—like Dean (Justin Long), who’s forced to decide whether he wants to take on the position of Assistant Manager and take the next step to becoming like Dan (David Koechner), their uncool, friendless boss. There’s also Bishop (Chi McBride), the dishwasher and resident shrink, two gangsta-wannabe busboys, and Raddimus (Luis Guzmán), a cook who instituted a detailed game involving male frontal nudity in the kitchen. Mitch also learns that the five-second rule totally applies in restaurant kitchens—and he learns how to handle (and how not to handle) difficult patrons.
Waiting… follows the staff through a day at the restaurant—from one night’s after-work party to the next night’s after-work party. Viewers follow (like poor Mitch) in horror, discovering what really happens in the kitchen.
I’ve never had a restaurant job, but I have plenty of friends who have—and this movie brought all of their horror stories (and then some) to life. Remember all the stories you’ve heard about what waiters and waitresses do to customers who make their job difficult? You’ll see it here in full, graphic detail—and it’ll definitely make you think twice before sending your meal back to the kitchen. In fact, I have a feeling that scenes from this film will haunt me for years.
Waiting… is a crude and often disgusting film that will have you laughing out loud while cringing in horror. Unlike The 40-Year-Old Virgin—and many other crude comedies—though, it doesn’t go on longer than it should. It’s short and sweet and disturbingly funny. Reynolds was perfectly cast—and Daley is extraordinary as Mitch, the silently shocked and mortified newcomer. His role would have been perfect if it had been kept to just facial expressions—instead of giving him an unnecessary soliloquy in the end.
If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant, you won’t want to miss Waiting…. If you haven’t, be warned that it’ll forever change the way you eat out.
