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'Waiting...' for it to end

There's a smart comedy waiting to be made about what really goes on at those two-steps-up-from-fast-food, casual chain restaurants that litter the landscape. Unfortunately, Waiting... does not fit the bill.

Lions Gate Films 'Waiting' D The verdict: Casual chain eatery hijinks, painfully unfunny and, fittingly, without much taste. Director: Rob McKittrick Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Justin Long, Anna Faris, David Koechner, Wendie Malick Run time: 93 minutes Release date: Oct. 7, 2005 Rating: R for strong crude and sexual humor, pervasive language and some drug use. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Waiting'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

The workplace has long been a source of ensemble sitcom yuks, with Kevin Smith's Clerks and Mike Judge's Office Space apparently being the role models for writer-director Rob McKitrick's expose of life among the young adult wait staff at the fictional Shenanigan's. (Yes, it bears a potentially actionable resemblance to Bennigan's, or perhaps T.G.I. Fridays or Ruby Tuesdays.)

Anyway, what few satirical points McKitrick has are soon squandered, so he clumsily settles for the broad farce of slacker indifference and childish pranks, played by employees on each other and on selected — rude, cheap or merely foreign — customers.

As close as Waiting... comes to a plot is following first-day waiter-in-training Mitch (John Francis Daley), introduced to standard operating hijinks by resident cynic Monty (Ryan Reynolds), who is preoccupied by thoughts of underage hostess Natasha (Vanessa Lengies).

For what it's worth, other characters include a waitress with severe anger management issues, a waiter with a shy bladder, a pair of stoner busboys and a lesbian bartender on the make. While they each stick to their single characteristics, many also engage in an unfunny running gag about exposing themselves to one another.

Although we do learn the downside of sending back a meal at Shenanigan's — a no-win proposition for the patron — surely it is still safe to reject a movie, isn't it?