What The Critics Say

"Waiting... is rude, crude, childish and stupid, which is pretty much everything you want in a gross-out humour movie." Liz Braun JAM! MOVIES "Destined to become a cult classic" Stefan Halley HERO REALM "This movie's two goals are to be over-the-top funny and remind audience members what it feels like to be in your early 20s without a plan, and it's a complete success in both areas." Peter Hartlaub SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE "A silly, awkward, but sometimes very funny movie." Eric Goldman IGN FILMFORCE "Waiting is a completely juvenile, ridiculous movie filled with frat boy humor that just happens to be very funny." Scott Nash THREE MOVIE BUFFS "Sharp-witted and fairly consistently hilarious, rustling up some affectionate, but mostly disturbing, flashbacks to my own restaurant days." Dustin Putman THEMOVIEBOY.COM "Ryan Reynolds is one of the funniest men alive." Phil Villarreal ARIZONA DAILY STAR "As someone who spent time in a steakhouse kitchen, I can say "Waiting" . . . comes close to reality, especially with its cast of characters." Bill Muller ARIZONA REPUBLIC

The Inside Story Stingy tippers, demanding customers, incestuous gossip-mongering and ritual humiliation: anyone who’s experienced the vagaries of waiting tables will relate to the behind-the-scenes antics at ShenaniganZ, the all too familiar restaurant chain in Lions Gate Films new comedy "Waiting". For the talented cast of Rob McKittrick’s comedy, playing a group of frustrated waiters was by no means a stretch. We've all heard those rumours or urban myths about cooks and waiters getting their revenge on complaining, rude and abusive customers. How true they are? Who knows, but after seeing the film "Waiting", I'm sure their will be plenty of cinemagoers who will come to the conclussion that there may be some truth in them. Director and writer Rob McKittrick obviously has some insight into what goes on at a restaurant. "I was 23 years old. All I had was a community college degree, and I was basically shaping up to be a loser," he remembers. "But after working at a few different restaurants, I realized that the same types kept showing up: the hostess everyone wanted to sleep with, the asshole manager, the burnt-out waitress. I started to see the possibilities of turning that world into a script." Originally, he'd planned to make it a low budget shoot. With the help of a producing partner and twenty thousand dollars he started planning a production schedule. Seven years later the script hadn't made it into production. It wasn't for a lacl of trying. "I sent the script to anyone and everyone who would read it," he recalls, "and met with anyone who seemed remotely interested." One prospect looked really promising but went "horribly wrong". Leaving the meeting, his producing partner started flirting with the receptionist. She sent the script to Jeff Balis of Project Greenlight. McKittrick's script was then optioned by Artisan Entertainment. It sat around for two years gathering dust, "mired in the legal fall-out of Artisan’s sale to Lions Gate Films". Enter Ryan Reynolds, a talented young actor who recently appeared alongside Australian actress Melissa George in the film, "The Amityville Horror". "Ryan read the script and loved the role. And he stayed with it the whole time," says McKittrick. "I can’t thank him enough." Reynolds says every minute he spent working with McKittrick was worth it. "I think we made an amazing, amazing movie," he says. It is an amazing movie with the lead character Monty an ideal vehicle for the actor who gained a huge following after starring in the cult classic, "Van Wilder: Party Liason". "Ryan is Monty," avows the director. "He’d either nail a line exactly the way I heard it in my mind, or he would make it far better than I had imagined. No small feat considering I had almost seven years to imagine it. He’s the single easiest person to work with." Co-stars Anna Faris and Justin Long also give Ryan Reynolds a big wrap. "He just brings so much to a role, and he adds all these great, funny ad-libs. He’s very professional. He works hard. It was really a pleasure to work with him," says Faris, who was originally cast as Monty's girlfriend Amy but three years later moved to the role of 'bad girl' Serena. "Ryan just brings natural comedic timing to everything he does. It’s like the part was written for him. He underplays it perfectly," says Long, who admits it took a lot of convincing before he took the role of Dean at McKittrick's insistence. "I had to wear Justin down and convince him to do it," says McKittrick. "I’m glad I did, because he was perfect. Dean is a hard character to cast, because the part can feel too weighty. I wanted someone who was inherently likable and had comedic chops." So how did the two stars find working with McKittrick? "Rob was incredibly prepared," says Faris. "He led us as a unit really well. We were a well-oiled machine." "He was very abusive, verbally and physically," says Long, smiling. "Seriously, though, I was amazed by how Rob kept his cool throughout the shoot. He started out with this great energy, and I thought as we got closer to the end and the pressure mounted to stay on schedule that he’d get overwhelmed. But he was calm and in control the whole way." The ease on set was the highlight of the shoot for Luis Guzman. And the low point? "Meeting Rob," says Guzman ("2009 The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3"). "I was really disappointed. I thought I was going to meet someone who was well dressed and groomed nice. He looked like a caterer’s assistant. I think he wore the same pair of socks every day." "McKittrick is a narcissistic, balding, overweight genius," adds 2000 and '02 Saturn Award nominee Long. When McKittrick hears these affectionate jabs, he only smiles, as he’s clearly used to this kind of ribbing from his cast. "Justin said that about me? I guess he’s finally trying to get the laughs that he never got on set. That’s cute." By all reports, the fun continued long after each day’s work was over, with the cast and crew taking full advantage of the New Orleans nightlife. "It was one of the best times I’ve had on location. And I’m really not bullshitting," says Gotham Award nominee Faris ("Brokeback Mountain"). "It felt like adult summer camp. Though sometimes I felt like the grandma of the group." "The experience on set really was like the bonds you forge working at a restaurant. You’re all in it together, " says McKittrick, who’s overwhelmingly pleased to have his project see fruition after so much time and effort. "Truthfully, no one looks back at waiting tables more fondly than me. After all, it gave me a career." Work Experience? Past lives ........
"I waited at this chi-chi restaurant in Connecticut and I hated every minute of it," admits Justin Long. "I was such a terrible waiter that it’s ironic I'm playing a good one in "Waiting". I really can't relate to that at all."
"When I was in college, I worked at a retirement home restaurant," remembers Anna Faris. "I got $5.70 an hour with no tips, and I had to do weird things like clean out the buttermilk refrigerator. Those old people love their buttermilk."
"The only restaurant I work in is my own kitchen," says Luis Guzman [who was McKittrick’s first and only choice for the role of Raddimus]. "I can cook anything. And I do not drop steaks on the floor and put them back on the plate."
On Rob McKittrick ........
"I was really disappointed. I thought I was going to meet someone who was well dressed and groomed nice," says Luis Guzman. "He looked like a caterer’s assistant. I think he wore the same pair of socks every day."
"McKittrick is a narcissistic, balding, overweight genius," says Justin Long.
"Sometimes it’s hard to work with writer/directors because their vision for the film is so set in stone," notes Anna Faris. "But Rob was encouraging and so much more flexible. He was confident in his casting and had no doubt in his actors."
"One of the selling points of doing the movie was working with the cast that Rob got," says Long. "It always elevates your own game when you’re around people like that. It makes you better."
"I thought the script was really raunchy but also really true," Faris says. "I thought it was the kind of thing people would recognize and relate to."
The final say ........
"I’m thankful to Rob for writing this, and for allowing me to explore certain parts of the male anatomy," says Guzman. "Just make sure you have a brown paper bag next to you when you’re watching the movie." Cast & Crew Bytes "WAITING" stars .......
Ryan Reynolds ["Van Wilder: Party Liason", "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle", "Blade: Trinity" and "The Amityville Horror"]; Anna Faris ["Lost In Translation", "Scary Movie 3", "Spelling Bee" and "Brokeback Mountain"]; Justin Long ["Crossroads", "Jeepers Creepers I & II", "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" and "Herbie: Fully Loaded"]; David Koechner ["Life Without Dick", "Waking Up in Reno", "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin"]; Luis Guzmán ["Welcome To Collinswood", "Confidence", "Anger Management" and "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"]; Chi McBride ["Mercury Rising", "Cradle 2 the Grave", "The Terminal" and "I, Robot"]; Kaitlin Doubleday ["Catch Me If You Can" and "Home Of Phobia"]; Robert Patrick Benedict ["Fairfax Fandango", "Not Another Teen Movie", "The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest" and "Kicking & Screaming"]; Alanna Ubach ["Clockwatchers", "Legally Blonde I & II", "Wasabi Tuna" and "Meet the Fockers"]; Vanessa Lengies ["The Perfect Man"]; Max Kasch ["V.I.P", "Falling Like This", "Holes" and "Red Eye"] and John Francis Daley ["Allerd Fishbein's in Love" and "View from the Top"] as Mitch.
"WAITING" was .......
directed by Rob McKittrick ["Waiting"]; screenplay by Rob McKittrick ["Waiting"]; costume design by Jillian Kreiner ["The Last American Elvis", "Swimsuit: The Movie", "Strangeland" and "Baller Blockin'"]; production design by Devorah Herbert ["Lovely & Amazing", "Evil Alien Conquerors", "The Speeding Ticket" and "Mysterious Skin"]; set decoration by Raymond Pumilia ["Mr 3000", "Because of Winn-Dixie" and "Home of Phobia"]; original music by Adam Gorgoni ["Blue Christmas", "Confessions of a Sexist Pig", "Blue Car" and "95 Miles to Go"]. What It's All About On his first day as a Shenanigan’s trainee, Mitch is about to find out what goes on behind the scene at his local restaurant. Mitch is being mentored by Monty, a happy go lucky young man who doesn't have a care in the world and makes his own rules when it comes to drinking, dating, drugs and customer 'service'. Dean on the other hand is happy at Shenanigan’s. That is until his mother reveals his old highschool friend Chett has just graduated with a degree in electrical engineering and is making good money. Dean's used to his mother's nagging about doing something with his life other than being a waiter but for four years he's been happy at Shenanigan’s. Now a seed of doubt has been sown. Then store manager Dan throws Dean a lifeline. He needs an assistant manager and Dean is the ideal candidate. It's not hard to see why when you consider Dan's staff includes Serena, Monty’s ex-girlfriend; Naomi a waitress with a severe anger management problem; Calvin, a guy who’s paranoid about peeing in public; Raddimus a cook who, when not flavouring the food by dropping it onto the floor; two rappin' 'bus-boys' who are always stoned on the job, and Natasha, a very attractive seventeen year old who works the front desk, flirts a lot with Monty and will reach the 'legal age' in just seven days. For all this the staff get on well, until the customers arrive to eat and that's when their frustration are awakened. Woe be-tied any rude, stingy or disparaging customer who raises their ire by complaining about the food, the service or other staff members. You see, the staff at Shenanigan’s have a special way of dealing with complaints and it isn't a pretty sight. If only the customers knew what they were getting on their plates. The Verdict "If you liked the "American Pie" trilogy and want to take the humour to the next level, you'll probably find "Waiting" well worth having a look at. It is funny. It is outrageous. It is entertaining. It's not hard to imagine that some of what is portrayed in "Waiting" could be on the menu next time you dine-in at your favourite eatery. Good frathouse humour. Recommended." Who's Who?

Ryan Reynolds Anna Faris Justin Long David Koechner Luis Guzmán Chi McBride John Francis Daley Kaitlin Doubleday Robert Benedict Alanna Ubach Vanessa Lengies Max Kasch Andy Milonakis Dane Cook Jordan Ladd Emmanuelle Chriqui Wendie Malick Monica Monica Travis Resor JD Evermore Clay Chamberlain Skyler Stone Melissa Morgan Don Brady Anne Ewen Pat Hazell Ann Marie Guidry Lauren Swinney Wayne Ferrara

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Monty Serena Dean Dan Raddimus Bishop Mitch Amy Calvin Naomi Natasha T-Dog Nick Floyd Danielle Tyla Monty's Mom Dean's Mom Chett Redneck Video Host #1 Cook Bitchy Lady Old Man Girl at Bar Jack Dessert Woman Elderly Woman Rocco

Directed by Rob McKittrick Written by Rob McKittrick Produced by Jeff Balis/Robert Green/Stavros Merjos/Jay Rifkin & Adam Rosenfelt Original Music by Adam Gorgoni Cinematography by Matthew Irving Film Editing by Andy Blumenthal & David Finfer Production Design by Devorah Herbert Art Direction by Morgan Blackledge & Frank Zito Set Decoration by Raymond Pumilia Costume Design by Jillian Kreiner Run Time 93 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2005 - Lions Gate Films - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2005 - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved