Waiting... (2005)

If you have ever worked in a restaurant you know these characters. I have worked in restaurants for 18 years and I have worked with every character in this movie. I have been half the characters. Everything except the remake steak scene is completely accurate. I have never seen anyone messs with someone's food. I have done whip-its in the cooler, have preyed on young hostesses, partied every night and slept my way through an entire serving staff. I don't trust anyone that works or has ever worked at a restaurant that hasn't seen this movie.

The theme is employees of a business put up with behind the scenes problems and nuisances but if needing the job somehow pull through and continue to collect their pay. The hit Hollywood movie IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME 1949 and the hit British situation comedy ARE YOU BEING SERVED 1975 through 1975-82 are prime examples of this genre at its finest. WAITING 2005 is a Hollywood comedy which fictionalizes the problems behind the scenes of employees at a chain restaurant which for some reason is visualized by the photographer and editor as resembling many branches of the real Applebees chain. The movie focus on crude humor melded to public male nudity. What seems fascinating is the prediction in this well made and edited film of the general historic failure to soon follow of branches of chain restaurants as more and more emigres to American urban centers in which chain restaurants often focus their branches recently relocated from more rural areas of low population density. If not in fact today frankly preferring takeout when this is a local option they otherwise prefer the food court in which the customers line up at the counter of the particular takeout they prefer at that hour to be invited if they prefer to consume their meal at tables within the facility but not managed by the counter staff at which they order their food.In retrospect this level of chain restaurant branch which once flourished in neighborhoods in which the local patrons preferred to regularly visit these establishments for regular meals is today on the way out on the American landscape.

This is a comedy that sets one tone immediately, and stays true to its motto throughout while consistently delivering the humor from start to finish: from the first seconds, to the very last drop of footage, even during credits. It's very silly, and some rare parts are a bit forced, but if one would just go along and enjoy the ride as a whole, surely there's some good to be found and not just in patches but throughout. At least a few characters will make you laugh just for who they are, and as a gang there at Shenanigans restaurant, they're quite a troop of awful fiends. The interesting thing here is the main plot is actually completely camouflaged into the various and constant developments in the story; mostly insignificant but hilariously at that; and it only comes out clear and unleashes with a fury divine at the very end, and serves as almost a sort of twist on the entire movie itself like a meta-thing, like the movie craps on itself. All in all, there's a special feel to this film, it is surely NOT like its neighbors and brethren however similar to them it may look on the outside. Lots of good laughs, tons of diverse funnily written characters each with a comedic angle, a bit of life lessons even - and that sort of a casual, cozy feeling, like we know those Shenanigans idiots. A good, funny, easy comedy that you might find becomes a personal favorite. It grows on you.

This was a sad, sad excuse for a comedy. These people have no idea how a joke works. I was told this movie was good by a friend, who I have since realized has no taste, so I had some hope for it at the time.It starts out promisingly. A bunch of--fairly likable--friends slogging through work in a family style restaurant - good.Then -SPOILER ALERT- (ha.) they reveal that the staff has this game where they try to show one another their scrotum by surprise, "okay," I thought, "this is going to be the set-up to an incredibly funny joke."Then they escalate by revealing that the staff has this game where they try to show one another their scrotum by surprise, "okay..." I thought, "this seems familiar. But maybe the joke is going to be SO good that they wanted to reestablish the set up so no one would miss it."And then finally, FINALLY, the punch line: They reveal that the staff has this game where they try to show one another their scrotum by surprise.Yeeeeeaah. So I spent the whole movie "Waiting..." for a punch line and not even cracking a smile as the hope slowly drained from me. Then they wrap the movie up with this shitty coming of age BS that could have been ripped from any other movie, book, or TV show about this age group. This was absolutely pathetic. The movie had one half-formed joke and they repeated it over, and over, and over. There was also some utterly predictable cr*p about messing with customers and how hard it is to be young that was totally forgettable. And, contrary to what most of the reviews say, completely inaccurate. No one messes with food that gets sent back because you can get the kind of lawsuit that will leave you permanently bankrupt from that kind of sh*t. Every other shred of half-hearted observational humor was so obvious that it wasn't funny.I am from this age group. I am a bar tender. I am the target demographic. This move did not appeal to me in the least. Maybe it's because I keep my scrotum to myself of because I had no poorly written angst about whether to go to university.