Running time: 94 minutes
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Luis Guzman
Rating 4 out of 10
Waiting... is an undistinguished comedy about the restaurant business that seems to have gone a bit stale on its journey across the Atlantic. Rob McKittrick's debut feature has many of the hallmarks of a first time effort, and his faux documentary style is at times a little too rough around the edges. Nevertheless, the film is partly redeemed by the presence of Ryan Reynolds who puts in another exuberant performance in a film that is not quite deserving of his talents. Reynolds has been specialising as the beefcake in films as diverse as The Amityville Horror and Just Friends, and has enough of a glint in his eye and a manner of delivery that marks him out as a star of the future. Here he shows how adept he is in a pure comedic role, and as the sarcastic self-worshipping leader of a group of motley waiters he is in his element.
The films charts the highs and lows of a group of young slackers who have never made it out of town after High School and ended up working at the local restaurant. It's all done in a manner that would like to bring to mind the works of Christopher Guest and Kevin Smith, with plenty of scatological pranks involving food thrown in for good measure, but which would have a hard time making the final script of American Pie 9.
Some good young actors try their best, but the jokes and execution are simply not funny enough to sustain prolonged interest. Anna Faris is another ditzy love interest, while Luis Guzman does at least provide some welcome relief as the short order cook who likes to experiment with the recipes in the most unsavoury of manners.
While it might be worth waiting for on dvd, there isn't much to make Waiting... a must-see on the big screen, although Reynolds fans will probably enjoy it as much as his previous vehicles.
Paul Hurley
