Waiting DVD Review:

We’ve all heard the horror stories of the goings on in the kitchen of restaurants when an irate customer sends the pate back to the disgruntled employees, and many movies have made use of this situation, but Waiting brings us deeper into the world of the chain restaurant to find that there are much more creative things happening. There is still the expected scene of food debauchery, as well as meat dropped in the kitchen, but these expected gaga are not nearly as humorous as the eclectic group of characters which make up the staff in ShenaniganZ, a restaurant which looks remarkably similar to a popular chain restaurant which writer/director Rob McKittrick worked for while writing the script. The frightening as well as hilarious element of the film is that it truly seems to be coming from an accurate standpoint, which has led me to give a wary eye to all workers in food service since viewing the film.

Although the plot in Waiting is basically just the shadow to the great characters played by an extremely talented comedic cast, there is some resemblance of conflict within the story. Waiting takes place over a full 24 hours in the life of a group of waiters, which begins and ends with heavy drinking. Dean, played by Justin Long (and in my opinion he is much more believable in the role of the normal leading man than he is trying to steal scenes from Stiller or Vaughn), has been a waiter since high school and now is stuck in a dead end job. When he is offered the assistant manager position, all Dean can think about is a high school classmate he has just heard began a career in electrical engineering. Monty, played by the charismatic Ryan Reynolds who has never been better, is a veteran at the restaurant and he loves it. On this day it is Monty’s honor to train the new employee, Mitch. Mitch is played by John Francis Daley of the Freaks and Geeks fame, and in his credit, although he doesn’t speak much until the end of the film, I hardly noticed because his reactions were so expressive. This may have hurt one of the film’s running gags, but it speaks greatly to the talent of Daley.

There are all sorts of other characters which fit perfectly into the environment, such as the nice guy who can’t get a girlfriend because he always ends up being a “friend”, the angry employee who has been working in the restaurant far too long, the disturbed cooks, and the geeky boss that wants to be everyone’s friend and the boss at the same time. Even more important than the plot is the running game which goes on through the entire game, which involves the men surprising each other with their exposed genitals.

The cast in Waiting really is something to be admired. Luis Guzman and Dane Cook fantastic as the cooks, although Cook seems to be slightly underused for all of the energy he has. Guzman just looks like the kind of cook you would be worried about, and he plays the sleazy role with far too much joy, also as one of the most excited players in “The Game”. Andy Milonakis, of recent MTV fame, plays one of the stoner bus boy, and he also gives plenty of reasons to stay and watch all of the credits with a surprisingly clever as well as extremely vulgar rap sequence. Really though, as awesome as the rest of the cast is, this film belongs to Reynolds. Although he was drawn towards slightly more serious roles after Van Wilder, thankfully he has returned to comedy with a vengeance. This role was meant for him and he uses every second of screen time to prove he can hold his own against many of the great comic talent which seems to be in full force on the big screen lately.

Writer/Director McKittrick waited a great deal of time to be able to make this film and it shows. Although there is hardly any plot to speak of, it seems as though there is no wasted time in the film. From the very beginning even after the credits have stopped rolling, McKittrick knows how to keep the audience’s attention. I am fascinated that he could write such a fascinating film without really needing conflict, and truly can’t wait to see what he can do with a strong story as well. Hopefully the next project from McKittrick will remain as honest, and hopefully we won’t be waiting long. 

The 2-disc deluxe edition is filled with all sorts of special features, along with an unrated version of the film. The unrated version is not noticeably longer, but a few scenes may be noticeably cruder to anyone who is observant enough. The scenes that weren’t added to the film were certainly added on the DVD. There are a number of deleted scenes and a few outtakes and alternate takes as well.

What makes this DVD so unique is the menus. Many of the menus are incredibly crude or disgusting, but all of them fit perfectly with the film. There are menus with disgusting looking food, and there are menus which are in a urinal, which leads to an obvious conclusion.

The first disc has the deleted scenes, outtakes, and a documentary about the making of the film. “That Little Extra” documentary is great because it seems that first time directors and smaller budget films tend to film a lot behind the scenes and during production, so there is plenty to watch.

The second disc has a number of more interactive features. There is another featurette about the making of the film with interviews which were obviously done after the film was finished. There is also a great commentary track which allows the director and other crew members to draw on the screen as you watch the film. The film is shown with the telestrator commentary, but it pauses at times so that they can point something out to you. The second disc also has a featurette on waiting tables and assorted video commentary by smaller characters in the film during specific scenes.

Ryan Izay

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