Waiting

Waiting (Director: Rob McKittrick)

This is writer/director McKittrick's first production.

This is one of those niche comedies containing a lot of people that some people have seen before but can't quite place, prepared to get filthy with its dialogue and situations, and hopefully leave the frat crowd satisfied when it's over. It's like Road Trip meets Office Space, all converging into one place.

It's a day-in-the-life of the restaurant Shenaniganz, where Dean (Justin Long) is a kid at a crossroads where he doesn't know what he wants to be, and is given the opportunity to move up within the company, a potential (and possible) trap. In this restaurant, we have the outgoing, happy-to-be-inert Monty (Ryan Reynolds, in his full-on Van Wilder self) training an unwitting newcomer Mitch (John Francis Daley, who seems to be playing the same picked-on character he does in "Kitchen Confidential"). There's unconfident Calvin (Robert Patrick Benedict) and loser manager Dam (David Koechner). There's the hot chicks (Anna Faris, Vanessa Lengies, Jordan Ladd, Kaitlin Doubleday, Emmanuelle Chriqui) and the bullish chick with a 'tude (Alanna Ubach) who populate the store, who put up with the screwy men--who seem to have quite a fun penis-showing game that includes levels of difficulty, kicks in the ass, and calling each other homophobic epithets. There's the even more screwy cooks, including character favorite Luis Guzman, Skyler Stone ("Con"), and hot stand-up comic Dane Cook. Even Chi McBride makes an appearance as...well, it seems like restaurant psychologist.

All of these people form what is a B-list ensemble piece, and it is often enjoyable. It's episodic, much like a sitcom on film, filled with lots of observations of the service industry, and the extremes that we've all heard about in dealing with rude customers, non-tipping jerks, hot underage girls looking to party, and of course, lots of penis-showing. There's a bush-showing in this, and this person has even got a credit as a "stunt bush" (Melissa Alonzo, take a bow).

The main draw here, of course, is Ryan Reynolds, who has often been compared to Jim Carrey and got his first real notice on "Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place." He plays the obnoxious guy with the winning line-delivery, ready to insult and put on false sincerity at all times, and he keeps the movie going with his likeable-ass act. It's not your funniest comedy ever, it will likely keep most people away, but it should be a cult favorite, and if you're in a giddy mood, it's a perfect movie to watch.