Still Waiting... (2009 Video) User Reviews

A re-heated meal that is surprisingly enjoyable.

[Mr_Censored · 6/10 · 27 February 2009]

If you've ever worked in a restaurant, then you probably already know that "Waiting..." was perhaps one of the best stress relievers for the job. From the rude, dehumanizing customers, to the sick-minded line-cooks, right down the melodramatic wait-staff, it covered all the bases. And most importantly, it was hilarious front to back and was good for many a repeat viewing. What you may or may not be aware of, though, is that a direct-to-DVD sequel has just been released, simply titled "Still Waiting..."

Written by Rob McKittrick, who also wrote and directed the first film, "Still Waiting..." is really just more shenanigans at the fictional "Shenaniganz" restaurant. Like your typical food-service job, the faces always change, which is convenient, because for this installment, big names like Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris and Dane Cook couldn't be pulled. Aside from a wealth of cameos and bit parts from the rest of the cast of the original flick, this one is filled with all new characters. The film walks a fine line, trying to service it's original audience by cramming as many characters from the previous film in, as well as establishing and developing a whole new cast. Unfortunately, in the case of the new cast, it doesn't pan out so well. Some of the characters work, but are under-developed, such as Tania Raymonde in the role of Amber, or even the slightly larger role of John Michael Higgins as Dennis. Elsewhere, though, the characters serve either a cheap punchline, or are otherwise recycled from the first film. It's sad that a new film with an all-new cast is only enjoyable when players from the last one drop by for a visit. This new cast of characters is, for the most part, bland, unlikeable, unfunny and just plain useless.

Thankfully, the film is still enjoyable, if not a bit redundant. Luis Guzman, Chi McBride, David Koechner, Rob Benedict, Andy Milonakis, Max Kasch and Vanessa Lengies all return, but it is Alanna Ubach -- reprising the role of the in-conquerable Naomi -- who really steals the show. Thankfully, she's a big character in the film, and if it weren't for her return, this movie wouldn't be half as great as it is. Justin Long, pops in briefly to drag down the mood, but to also take a jab at the character he played in the first film, as well as any other film he's been in. Think his character in "Zack & Miri Make A Porno" but more depressed. No doubt, the film is filled with plenty of food-service in-jokes and enough gross-out humor to satisfy, even if it drops the ball on telling an interesting story with it's new characters. Thanks to a returning cast, as well as solid direction by Jeff Balis (who served as a producer for the first film), "Still Waiting..." is a worthy refill. It's nowhere near as potent as "Waiting..." but in comparison to other DTV fair, it's worth watching, if not owning. There's still enough on the menu for those who crave a nice, nasty story revolving around a restaurant, and to that end, it holds up. Definitely in the spirit of the first one, just missing a few crucial elements to make it a classic.

Lazy attempt to cash in, still watchable though.

[KineticSeoul · 4/10 · 12 November 2009]

This movie basically took everything that was good about the first one and made it less interesting and engaging. The cameos was okay just not that great and sort of pointless with the return of some the cast from the first movie, in fact this sequel is pointless. Rob McKittrick the writer for the film even admitted he had no idea what to write about for the plot, the first movie didn't really have a plot but this one was just way more random and ridiculous and just too over the top. In fact Rob if you see him in the behind the scenes is a dick himself and one cocky guy after a decent success of his first movie. The first "Waiting.." was great because it is something that a lot of people that worked in a restaurant can relate with, this isn't the case for the sequel. So it basically continues the adventures of the waiting staff at Shenaniganz restaurant after two years later, except now they are having sort of a competition with the new Ta-Ta's Wing Shack restaurant where some of the old team members work now, which is basically like Hooters or Twin Peaks. They got the team members from the first movie back but not all of them and the new team members in the restaurants isn't as likable. As a matter of fact they don't have the two main actors from the first movie that took the spotlight back, which is Monty(Ryan Reynolds) and Floyd(Dane Cook). And basically replaced Monty with Agnew(Stever Howey) who is a dick in real life and in the movie as well, but he isn't a likable dick like Ryan Reynolds was, but I will admit his stereotyping jokes were actually kinda funny. The first movie had a lot of toilet humor and stuff was just random, and there is a lot of toilet humor in this one as well but it just isn't as engaging or as entertaining. Chris Williams is sort of a replacement of Floyd, but just comes off as a prick that should have had something bad happen to him at the end. It was interesting to find out that Mason and Agnew is real people and Rob took down the stupid stuff they said and got it into writing for this movie. It's a weak sequel overall and the cast wasn't as likable, it's not terrible though and I guess it's worth seeing if you really enjoyed the first "Waiting...". The main highlight of this movie though is the Ta-Ta's Wing Shack girls, Amanda Loncar was hot.

4.6/10

Scary

[michaeltrivedi · 6/10 · 28 December 2019]

This movie spooked me out to get my act together before it's too late. The only other movie that had done that recently was Joker. It's scary living in this world. I guess it got better, but I wouldn't recommend becoming a waiter based on this movie.

It was a decent effort though. Once you got comfortable, there were hot girls. Same vibe as the first movie. Hooters makes an appearance. So does Andy Milonakis. Struggles of life and becoming a better person. Finding a woman etc.

Nice. Worth a watch some random night maybe.

6 stars

Still waiting for the payoff

[cwrowen · 1/10 · 23 March 2009]

Do not rent this movie!

Liked the first movie when I caught it on TV. As a one-time waiter, I felt it was a perspective worth showing, and it had some funny moments. This sequel was HORRIBLE. Not one funny joke.

After realizing that it was not going to make me laugh, I figured that at least the "unrated" version might provide some gratuitous visuals. No dice - just a single, totally non-tantalizing scene. Anybody that gives this a positive review must be affiliated with the film or distribution company. As usual, it is a pretty strong signal when the original cast does not show up to cash in on the sequel. You should stay away, too.

Crikey

[moveoverhere · 2/10 · 19 January 2010]

I'm watching this now, and it's terrible. So so bad, and it's written by the same guy as the first one. It's a clone, but much, much worse. The new Ryan Reynolds is just a douche prick (not as Monty, just as a new idiot), Naomi (the girl with the massive... u know) returns but has got worse at acting, Calvin (with the urinal problem) is a totally diff character, the girls at Ta Ta's is a replacement for Anna Farris, and she's terrible, there's an idiot in the kitchen with a fake stupid speech problems, nick and t-Dog return with no point, Justin longs paranoid whiny replacement is equally fake, and there's even a new penis game with vagina's. I think counsellor Bishop is the only character that hasn't been cloned. It's reminds of those terrible later American pie movies. No wonder it's a straight to DVD

We're done waiting for a sequel, I'm still waiting for a good one...

[faucetofslfame · 1/10 · 21 February 2009]

Ugh. Are you serious?

This movie took everything that was great about the original, blew it way over the top, and ruined any chance it had of being decent. I can honestly say I didn't even smile for the entire thing, what was there to smile about? The guy who was an obvious rip-off of the character Ryan Reynolds played? That did nothing but spout really generic, un-creative and obscene jokes the whole movie? Woah, never seen that. Or the main character who's so pathetic, obnoxious, un-funny as well as un-likable that we can only hope he doesn't get the promotion? Or perhaps the stuff that wasn't just not funny as well as over-played it self from the first one making triumphant returns to further beat the dead horse? Such as Naomi and the so-not-worth-watching-it's-painful Andy Milonakis. Look out everyone, white guys pretending to be gangster. Comedy 101, here. Although, I'll give them an ounce of credit for obviously realizing how stupid the two characters were the first time around. Oh, wait, I'm forgetting about the cook with the lateral lisp! HA HA! He has a speech impediment and sounds super-funny! HA HA!

SPOILER - But all that aside, I think the greatest insult was ruining one of the great things from Waiting, and that was Justin Long's character. Who was sick of just settling, said F it and went out on his own. So in this they have him a porn and pill addicted f-up because of his decision to leave the restaurant? Right on. Someone stop the funny-train, because I'm rolling in the aisles. END SPOILER

Please, I beg of you, do not watch this movie. If you must, just watch Adam Carolla's part. As I'm the Ace-Man's number one fan, and even his role couldn't get this rating above a two.

Has it's flaws, but still enjoyable

[TrippDigital · 7/10 · 2 August 2009]

I was a big fan of Waiting. Even though I've never worked in a restaurant, I could somehow relate to the plights and pitfalls of the food service industry. A lot of that had to do with writer Rob McKittrick's great script. Now, years later, Rob has penned the sequel to his cult classic and the results, though not as satisfying as the original, are better than you might think.

Still Waiting moves the action to a new Shenanigans restaurant where manager Dennis is having some problems. Not only is he having trouble with his personal life, but his restaurant is also facing a crisis. They're losing business to the newly-opened Ta-Ta's Wing Shack next door. So much business in fact that corporate is threatening to shut Dennis down unless he can meet his quarterly expectations. He has one last day to make the $9000 he needs to keep his restaurant open and maybe even get a promotion.

With a new restaurant comes a new cast of characters. There's Agnew - a young waiter who's so sarcastic and hateful that he doesn't even realize he's slowly turning into a racist; His girlfriend, Allison, who just started working at Ta-Ta's; Joshua - a guy who's so overworked that he has nightmares about his job; Hank - the bartender who dreams of hitting the big time with his band; Amber - the waitress working to pay her tuition, and Mason - the young cook with a lisp who's hopelessly in love with Amber. There's also a few returning characters. Like Naomi, in all her spiteful alcoholic glory. And Calvin, who's gone from being a love-struck loser to total ladies man and manager of Ta-Ta's. Other old faces show up as well, but I don't want to spoil it for you.

The characters are, sadly, not near as good as the original Shenanigan's gang. It's no fault of the actor's either, The mostly unknown cast make the best with what they've been given. The characters this time around are just not as interesting. For example, I could've done completely without the Joshua character and would've like to have seen more of the Mason-Amber mini-plot.

The story is a bit weak as well. Whereas in the first film, amidst all the dirty jokes, there was a story about that point in your life where you have to ask yourself "Just where am I going?": Still Waiting doesn't seem to have anything other than the "are they gonna make enough money?" plot. You'd think they would, especially with the new girl at the Wing Shack subplot, but it's just not there.

All in all, Still Waiting has it's moments. It's pretty funny and way better than the majority of direct-to-DVD sequels out there. If you loved the original, you'll probably like this one. Key word being "like".

Awful truly horrible movie

[matherl · 1/10 · 9 March 2009]

Loved the original, yes the first one was full of toilet humour but it was laugh out loud funny. I really rated Ryan Reynolds in "Waiting" he's almost like a new Chevvy Chase.

"Still Waiting" is one very nasty, even a little racist movie. It has no redeeming qualities, I barely raised a smile the whole way through it.

Please don't waste your life on this muck. It's even tarnished my memory of waiting.

No wonder this went straight to vid, potential funny scenes were rushed though without expanding the scene. It seems like a very lazy attempt to cash in from the fans of the first, it felt very low budget, as some have said already even felt like porn movie acting.

AVOID!

Ryan Reynolds

[adisuege · 4 June 2019]

Just imagine how much better it would've been if Ryan Reynolds was in the movie

Way better than first part

[Pawel-laba · 7/10 · 20 December 2018]

I first watched this movie then the first part (waiting). Have to say that this one is way more funny, better acted and the story has kind of more sense. The ending was a cut off, thought there would be some more to come. But overall I enjoyed it.

not as good as the original

[kairingler · 3/10 · 3 June 2014]

As my summary title says it's definitely nowhere near close to all of the laughs an raunchiness of the first one,, The only recognizable name in this movie to me was Adam Corolla , and I'm not really a big fan of his. this movie had some laughs,, and a few raunchy moments,, but the idea that our main character had to make 9000 in sales on the last day before the fiscal period ended , was totally not a good storyline,, I thought maybe something like maybe a major restaurant critic coming by to review the food, would have been better storyline. I guess there was so much from the first movie that is missing from this one,, most of the actors/actresses from the 1st one are noticeably absent from this one,, gee I wonder why, all together I would have to say that I'm "still waiting" on a better sequel so folks you can go ahead and pass on this one.

Not sure why all the hate

[badmflt · 9/10 · 31 July 2022]

This was really good. Sure, it's not as good as the first one, but how many movies are? Some of the cast is back, there's lots of raunchy humor, and the storyline is good.

Not the greatest movie ever made, but it's a fun and funny watch. I'd recommend it if you like the first one.

A 'background' comedy

[bowmanblue · 6/10 · 29 July 2019]

The first 'Waiting' film was a 'cult classic.' Okay, that may be a little generous when you consider other 'similar' cult classics include movies like 'Clerks' and 'Office Space,' while 'Waiting' (although fun) was definitely not up to those standards. It charted a day in the life of a group of restaurant staff and was - believe it or not - headed by Ryan Reynolds. It was all good, light-hearted adult humour and if you've ever worked in the service industry you'll definitely be sympathetic to the waiters and waitresses' plight. Then they made the sequel.

Of course Ryan moved on to bigger and better things and we're left with a whole load of unfamiliar faces which we sort of recognise from one B-movie, or that TV show that we can't quite remember the name of. Justin Long pops up again and reprises his role, but it's basically just a cameo and, if you believe what you read on the internet, he wasn't very happy with the production. Again, the story tells the tale of a day in the life of the staff at a restaurant, however this time it's vying for popularity against another eatery next door, only this one uses scantily-clad waitresses to bring in a certain demographic of diners.

There are plenty of characters in the film and therefore not even half of them are as well-developed as they could probably have been. In fact, the majority of them are stereotypes, but - seeing as this film is hardly supposed to be 'high drama' and just simple fun - it's kind of forgivable. Most of them have 'supposed' character-arcs which seem to be a little too neatly/conveniently tied up at the end of the film.

If you only watch one 'Waiting' film then definitely go for the first one. This one doesn't have half so many laughs. However, it's not all bad - not even nearly. Just because it doesn't have that many 'laugh out loud' moments doesn't mean that it's not worth a watch. If you have it on in the background then you can dip in and out of it. You're not going to miss that much and will soon pick it up again. But there's definitely a drop in quality in the writing between the original and this one. Let's just hope that they don't really sink lower and make a 'third installment.'

WE ARE ALL STILL WAITING

[nogodnomasters · 3/10 · 5 June 2019]

I'm still waiting for the movie to start. Not half as good as the first one. Crude sexual humor, fart and feces humor, and it really wasn't that funny except for the sour cream Sanchez which I had to explain to my mother.

Brief nudity and you never see the girl's face attached to the Ta's Ta's, which means they were a body stand in.

Outtakes and bloopers were just as bad as the film.

Winner winner chicken dinner

[clarer25 · 5/10 · 22 May 2009]

It may not be the greatest of sequels, but it's still very watchable.

Still captures the atmosphere of working at a restaurant very well although this sequel is only a former shell of it's original self. They do a nice job bringing back some old characters which is nice because the whole point of "Ta-Ta's" seemed pretty absolutely pointless.

Much like the first one there really isn't a main plot but to capture the everyday life of servers in the restaurant environment. Except this time there is a competing (but not really) hooters knock off restaurant next door with a new crew.

Nevertheless, this movie is about average to above average just depending of how critical you want to be of the first film with comparing it to this one.

If you work as a server and found the first movie to be enjoyable, you might as well watch this one. If not, don't expect much.

Not as bad as everyone says

[smoke13 · 5/10 · 13 January 2021]

Rarely is a sequel better than the original but this movie honestly wasn't as bad as the majority of reviewers claim. It's basically what you'd expect from a sequel to Waiting... I didn't even know the movie existed until today so I figured I'd give it a try. Compared to a movie like Neighbors 2, you'd think this movie was directed by Spielberg.

Still Waiting for a good joke.

[j-mersek · 1/10 · 4 June 2011]

This movie is compromised of nothing but racist and sexist jokes that do nothing except make you cringe at the abnormality of it all. The only returning characters from its predecessor are all the unwelcome ones that never got a laugh the first time around. It seems that these actors had had no other options since their talent was so limited in the first place that they just had to take what was given to them. That was a talentless, worthless, and laughter-less script.

The only part that was worthy of laughter was in the final thirty minutes of the film where a funny and accomplished actor decided (for whatever reason) to come back for the sequel and give the only laughs of the movie. When his cameo was over, so was the movie.

This goes to show that Hollywood will do whatever it takes to make a sequel out of a movie that really didn't need one just to see if any money could be made out of it, which has been done many times before. This one shows that without the correct cast and script that nothing could be made well.

Okay but not great

[bravesfreak2009 · 5/10 · 8 March 2009]

While this one was not as good as i expected it was okay. Didn't like the whole set up of two different diners and how they set the "plot" of the movie also i enjoyed the first movie much better with the original characters. Most of the movie was about Shenaniganz and Ta-Ta's competing and how Shenaniganz has to make a $9000.00 day. And how most of the movie is that the New Manager of Shenaniganz is trying to become district manager...I also wish a lot of the characters from the first are still in this one i do not like some of the new people they have in this movie and how they act. And i don't like how much they changed Calvin either. This film over all was not a 10 but it is worth the watch...So enjoy it for what its worth.

A Server's Review of Still Waiting...

[adamtox31 · 2/10 · 11 October 2013]

If you haven't seen this movie yet but loved the first one, don't waste your time. The fact that Waiting... was so good and both films were written by the same guy (Rob McKittrick) may sway you to see it but trust me...DON'T! Having worked in restaurants my whole life, there were certain things in this movie that did make me laugh but altogether the film was trying too hard to create the magic of the original, sadly giving us a half-ass attempt to make a decent sequel instead.

First off, the main character in the film is the restaurant's manager. In every restaurant I've ever worked in, the manager is hated by just about everybody so trying to get us to care about this character was pretty ridiculous. The next thing that bugged me the most was the character of Agnew who was definitely trying too hard to be like Monty from the first film. The only difference between the two was that unlike Monty, I really didn't like Agnew and couldn't stand him upon his first few lines in the movie. I'm not sure if it was the actor (Steve Howey) or the fact that the character was just a super-douche but I really could care less about the guy.

The movie does feature some of the cast from the original but due to pay and schedule issues, some are only seen for brief moments. Raddimus, Natasha, Dan, Bishop, Nick and T-Dog all return but only have a total of maybe 15-20 minutes in the film. Calvin and Naomi are also featured more in this movie than the previous one but it still wasn't enough to make it enjoyable. The surprise cameo came from Justin Long as Dean who said (after the release of the movie) that he was "truly embarrassed" to be involved in this one. If that doesn't tell you anything...

Another thing that bothered me was trying to figure out if this is supposed to be the same Shenaniganz restaurant as the first or a different location. Obviously the interior of the eatery is completely different but with Naomi, Natasha and Nick still working there, you would think it's the same. But then during Dean's cameo, he said that this location was a bigger dump than the one he worked in. If it is a different place, how would those people still be working together? This is something that still bugs me to this day and if anybody can answer this question for me, I'd greatly appreciate it.

With all the bad stuff there is about this movie, there were a few moments that did make me laugh. The dream about getting slammed, the rush of elderly people for the early bird specials and the cooks getting upset with guys for making changes to a ticket are all things that I have experienced and did make me chuckle a bit. But other than those, the movie didn't have too many laughs that people coming from working in restaurants could relate to.

After watching the special features, it is clear that McKittrick just wrote this movie for the money. He clearly states that he had no interest in writing the film but when he was offered six-figures to do so, he quickly got to work. With them unable to get many of the stars from the original, this film should have gone the route of the first and just focus on the nonsense that takes places while working in a restaurant. The Shenaniganz vs. Ta-Ta's Wing Shack storyline was too much and they should have focused on one or the other. I can only hope that if there's another sequel to this movie, McKittrick & Co. stay as far away from it as possible.

one of the direct to video sequels.... this is definitely a must see

[grumpyass · 10/10 · 14 February 2009]

I am one of those people that HATE i mean absolutely hate direct to DVD sequels or movies in general. They always lack the talent, or effort put into them. Well if you enjoyed Waiting... you will definitely enjoy this. This movie was non-stop laughs. It brings back a majority of the original cast, some with just special appearances. I didn't even know it was made until i seen in out to watch. I am definitely going to pick this one up for my collection. The only thing i missed way Ryan Reynold's character, Anna Farris, and the guy they were training (who is Sweets in Bones). Even if you are skeptical about seeing this at least give it a shot. You shouldn't be disappointed.

Good Example of How Not to Do Offensive Comedy

[fatcat-73450 · 4/10 · 5 December 2021]

The film involves a day in the lives of workers at a family restaurant in USA. The manager wants to make a good impression in order to become regional manager so he can "get more chicks," so he tells his employees that the restaurant is closing down if they don't make a certain amount of money. A popular Hooters opens next door as well (it's called bonbons or something - it's a parody), which makes the challenge all the more difficult.

Apparently it's a sequel to a better movie, but I didn't see it. I don't think you're missing much, anyway. Most of the characters are archetypes. In fact, most of them are the same archetype - services workers with mostly disatisfied lives, desperately trying to grasp for more out of life (women, sex, money, fame, whatever...) and remaining almost as hungry as always (or in the same state of waiting, we can say) by the end of the movie.

It's a farce that tries to score laughs on the basis of offensive humour (specifically racist and sexist) and it fails miserably at it, which is ironic because Adam Carolla, master of this type of humour, is in it and his scene is hilarious.

The problem isn't that the humour could cause offense, as such. Rather it falls flat because of two problems:

1) It doesn't make logical sense - Example: at one point they insult Mexican restaurants clearly in an attempt to insult Mexicans, but Mexican restaurants in USA are mostly owned, frequented, and often even staffed by white people. (also the supposed Mexican immigrant keeps saying "esé" - a Chicano word used by Los Angeles-born Mexicans mainly in the 80s - making the character a logical contradiction, but it'd fly over most people's heads so hardly worth mentioning).

Example 2: A girl says she has a fetish for accents and some guy does some bad accents, but he's mostly spewing gibberish pretending to speak a foreign language. There's a difference between an accent and a foreign language. Illogical to the point of confusion rather than humour.

2) They usually have to be at least somewhat grounded in reality but most of the time here the scenarios are so unrealistic they break the audience's will to suspend disbelief: Example: A restaurant worker at the Hooters acts so blatantly perverted and weird that it loses all semblance of reality. There's no feeling of cringe, there's just the empty feeling of watching someone pretending to act on a screen.

It seems it's mostly just racist and sexist for the sake of being mean, which tends to not be very funny.

Granted, it has some scenes that could be iconic. The montage during evening rush with Flight of the Bumblebee is artistically done, the Don Juan character's transformation from seductionist to loser is subtle and masterful, and the scene reminiscing about how lame the different fashions were in the 90s was funny.

But most of the good stuff happens near the end. Too little, too late.

Honourable Mentions: Clerks (1994). Come to think of it, this movie is like a 90s movie. Clerks may have been the first one to consider the lives of go-nowhere service workers waiting on better days in a a farcical comedy. Haven't seen it in a while and it might be boring by now, but when it came out it was certainly fresh and it can't be as bad as this mess.

This film should come with a prednizone shot

[catdogmanfish · 1/10 · 17 August 2019]

This film has ripped the guts out of the original. The few characters from the original are unrealistic, like Calvin the shy bladder guy all of a sudden being on top of the world. What the clueless creators of this film can't figure out is what made the original so good was many people can relate to dealing with problem customers and eccentric coworkers, this has none of that. The single worst part of this film is Steve Howey's character Agnew. To call him a discount Ryan Reynolds would be a compliment. I couldn't help but wish bad things to happen to him throughout the whole film. If the rest of the cast had taken a turn punching him in the scrotum then the whole film would have been worth it. I never wish bad on others but I hope this ended his career.

This movie sucked

[johnkenerson · 1/10 · 18 August 2018]

It's unfunny, unoriginal and uninspired. One of the worst movies I've ever seen

I spent the whole time still waiting for it to be funny

[surplusguy-61852 · 4/10 · 28 July 2021]

It should be law that sequels can only be made by the writers and directors of the original. A sure sign that a sequel is going to be bad is that none of the original main actors want to be in it. (see also Caddy Shack 2) The bit at the end with Justin Long was painful. He obviously didn't want to be there and he left his name off the credits because he was ashamed of the movie. Don't get me wrong, there are a few moments worth watching, like the bit with the busboy rapper. But for the most part it looks like it was written by someone who just didn't get what the first movie was all about.

Still waiting is horrible

[rodriguez-53578 · 1/10 · 11 March 2019]

Honestly this movie is pathetic it's just straight dumb comedy it's not even funny I feel sorry for the writer because he's the only idiot who thinks it's funny.Anyone that gave this movie 5 or more rating is a straight retard that dosent know anything about movies or how to rate so they shouldn't even try.whoever thinks this movie is even a bit funny is probably because theyre the same losers as the loser that can't get laid and never had pussy in his life I'm sure every loser that thinks this movie is funny is because they can relate to jacking off and never getting pussy.