Post by StevePulaski on Apr 30, 2011 8:55:16 GMT -5
The dysfunctional crew at Shenaniganz in Waiting....
Rating: ★★
According to Waiting..., the cardinal rule of eating out is don't f*** with people that handle your food. If you do, the gang will result in contaminating your food with unsanitary pubic hair or spit. Can't really say if that is true or not because I've never worked in a restaurant, but having friends who do they said it is totally true. I'll make sure to have a soft voice and tip well.
The problem with Waiting... is the film is sort of laughing at itself more than we are. It finds itself amusing and the audience doesn't really understand it. The characters are acting like the toast of the town twenty minutes in and we hardly know them. It is as if they are just moral stereotypes and not real people. We got the wannabe gangster, the slutty waitresses, the geeky employee, the hot shot, the ranting/raving girl, etc. We don't get time to get to know these characters like people, just their portrayed stereotype.
Waiting... focuses on various characters working at this Shenaniganz restaurant. We have Monty (Reynolds), the hot shot employee who is the leader of the pack. Dean (Long), a high school graduate who has been working at the place since he has been out of high school. Mitch (Daley) a new employee who's voice is barely heard. Calvin (Benedict), a pee-shy, unlucky romantic. Serena (Faris), Monty's ex-girlfriend. And many other minor characters like Max Kasch and Andy Milonakis's white boy gangster characters. Not too mention Luis Guzmán and Dane Cook's secondary character roles as well.
The film deals with all the problems held at this restaurant. The employees usually shake off the excess stress by getting each other to unintentionally look at another guy's penis. It's strange, unnecessary, and an easy way out. Can't think of a joke? Show a guy's male parts and you got laughs.
When analyzing a good film like Kevin Smith's Clerks, you'll find that the characters have lives and not just stereotypes. We hear their problems, their plans, pretty much everything we are entitled to hear about characters in a film. Waiting... skims over that and gets right to the "comedy."
I liked pretty much everyone in the cast, but the humor they provided was dry. Justin Long, my favorite character, was the highlight, but even he didn't give 100%. It was all just a mix of dull comedy, penis jokes, and ho-hum acting by great actors. Waiting... doesn't do its job.
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Justin Long, Kaitlin Doubleday, Luis Guzmán, Dane Cook, David Koechner, Chi McBride, John Francis Daley, Max Kasch, and Andy Milonakis. Directed by: Rob McKittrick.