Waiting (2005)

Addendum (October 19, 2009): I have since seen this movie twice, and probably now four times overall. I do not think my original review was fair enough, and that my rating was far too low. Waiting is absolutely frickin' hysterical. This is one of the few movies that I will watch on Comedy Central over and over again; I hope to own it one day. In retrospect, I give Waiting 3 and a half stars.

This movie walks that fine line that a lot of slap stick comedies traverse, wobbling back and forth between being a really funny or being retarded. In Waiting, the employees of Shenaniganz restaurant stave off boredom with their ridiculous and stupid antics. If I had to pick between the two, I would say that this movie is actually pretty funny, rather than being mentally challenged, but it does have its moments. The cast is impressive. Justin Long admirably portrays the stand out waiter with the once bright future who struggles to determine what course his life is going to take. Ryan Reynolds is excellent as the cool guy-asshole. His sense of timing is perfect, and his delivery of a few classic one-liners really helps to save this film. A few other notable names, such as Anna Faris and Luis Guzman round out what was actually a really well-cast movie. The plot of this film is not exactly bad, it is just kind of pointless. Justin Long's struggle to decide whether or not to accept a promotion simply provides a framework within which the rest of the restaurant staff can screw around with each other, and their customers. The director, to his credit, does not try to do more with the film than what he was given, and in doing so, does not ruin it with a lot of forced, unnecessary plot lines. A lot of the humor in this movie is either stupid or pointless, but there are a few creative moments that are really enjoyable. In particular, the male staffers in Waiting play a penis game in which they try to get each other to look at the others balls; it sounds stupid, but it is actually really funny. My wife saw Waiting with me in the theatre, and she liked it, but she fell asleep the second time we watched it on Comedy Central. If you do catch this film, I suggest trying to watch it unedited; some of the funniest moments were lost in order to make it acceptable for a cable viewing audience. This movie is funny enough that if it is on TV again, I will watch it. I give Waiting 2 and a half stars.