Movies

Always remember the cardinal rule of eating out: Never mess with people who handle your food! Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder), Anna Faris (the Scary Movie series) and Justin Long (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) star in this hilarious comedy about the band of mischievous waiters, waitresses and cooks just waiting to show guests how extraordinary the service at ShenaniganZ restaurant can be.

I sat down to watch this movie with friends a few months ago and only made it through the first 30 minutes before I fell asleep. It was not the movie's fault, I was grossly sleep deprived at the time. It is hard to imagine that I was able to fall asleep considering how hard I laughed through the first 30 minutes. All I can say for sure is that I had to see the rest if the beginning was that funny.

I've now seen the entire movie and it was funny. I laughed hard and often. I don't recommend the movie to you if you fell in with those who criticized Napoleon Dynamite for its lack of plot. You would be similarly disappointed with Waiting. Sure there is a moral dilemma in which one waiter is entrenched, but the rest of the movie is just about daily shenanigans of a few angsty employees of the food industry.

If you are naive enough to believe that restaurant dining is 100% clean and healthy, you may want to avoid seeing Waiting as it is an over-the-top portrayal of how sometimes a disgruntled server and/or cook will take a few inappopriate measures to get even with an annoying customer.

Ryan Reynolds gives a solid performance that, while not his best, goes to great strides to typecast him as the nearly past his prime big man on campus; a part he played perfectly in Van Wilder.

This will never be listed in the annals of great comedies, but it certainly was good for a few laughs. I am glad I finally got around to seeing the whole thing.

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