DVD Reviews

Waiting

• Rating:
• Director: Rob McKittrick
• Starring: Anna Faris
• Details:

We spend a day in the life of the waiting staff of Shenaniganz restaurant, as they fight the mundane and disheartening nature of their daily grind through the almighty power of humour (i.e. showing each other their genitals and the likes).Obviously somewhat of a homage to Kevin Smith's Clerks, Waiting, an enjoyable if somewhat messy debut from first time director Rob McKittrick, wears the influence of Smith's indie classic firmly on its sleeve. Attitude wise it eats at the same dinner table as Clerks but fails to add anything new or particularly smart to the conversation. Waiting's budget is obviously small, but not small enough to use as an excuse for mediocrity. If it wasn't for the generally excellent cast, you'd feel a lot more ripped-off. McKittrick has a poor visual style and an uneven sense of pacing (pointless subplot featuring Justin Long), but it's the cast (particularly Reynolds and now huge American comedian Dane Cook) who take the shabby, badly-written script and run with it, ultimately making what would've easily been another crude American comedy a funny and sporadically watchable one. If you liked Clerks but didn't understand some of the conversations, then Waiting is for you.

Review by Mike Sheridan