Parents' Guide to

Waiting

By Heather Boerner, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

An undercooked, overdone raunchy comedy.

Movie NR 2005 92 minutes
Waiting Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 17+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Dopinder
Dopinder Adult
September 3, 2018
age 18+

if you liked Deadpool or have ever worked in a restaurant

This is a great movie. Yes it's raunchy and inappropriate. It's basically Deadpool minus the violence if Wade Wilson worked in a restaurant. The woman who supposedly "reviewed" this movie though confused me a bit though. Heather Boerner says "this film is full of teenage sex", "A teenage girl is manipulated into sex with a much older man" and "The main characters also act antisocially toward their customers." And it makes me wonder if in fact, Heather actually watched the movie or did someone else watch it and just tell her about it? I will break down the 3 trouble areas with her review. 1. "This film is full of teenage sex." There is only one sex scene in the movie and it happens between two adults. No teenagers have sex in the movie period. 2. "A teenage girl is manipulated into sex with a much older man." One of the on going jokes through out the movie is that Monty (played by Ryan Reynolds) is a pedophile. Natasha is a hostess at the restaurant. She's 17 years old. If Dean and Monty are the same age or close to it, then Monty is somewhere around 22 years old which doesn't make him much older than her at all. But besides all of that, Natasha isn't all the innocent either. As when she talks to Dan The Restaurant's Manager (played by David Koechner) she tells him that she's into older men and even tells Monty before the party that "I think most tainted youths end up being perverts." However, at no point does Monty have sex with Natasha. She wants too but he, himself, stops it. 3. "The main characters also act antisocially toward their customers." There is only one point in the movie with a waiter or waitress is "antisocial" towards any customers. It's when Dean (played by Justin Long) feels that he got jipped on a tip. The rest of the time the staff is very friendly to the guests while face to face even when the guests are being extremely rude. Just remember... Don't mess with the people who handle your food.
SirenStar
SirenStar Adult
November 4, 2011
age 16+

This funny movie is not suitable for kids.

I find this movie hilarious, but it's definitely not for kids or young teens. Tons of drug use, lots of sexual references and sexual behavior, and non-stop profanity. It really does depict the life of a server very well though.
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

WAITING is about Dean (Justin Long) and his buddies at a TGI Fridays-type theme restaurant. While Dean, a high school honors student turned future restaurant assistant manager, struggles with what to do next with his life, his friend Monty ( Ryan Reynolds) is busy cruising underage girls, insulting a girl he used to date, and showing the ropes to the new kid (John Francis Daley). Among the other stock characters are the hilariously burnt out Amy, the lecherous older cook Raddimus, the contemptible customers, the pothead suburban pseudo-gangsters Nick and T-Dog, the ineffectual boss --and set pieces. There's the prissy customer who keeps sending her food back until, stepped on and otherwise defiled by the kitchen staff, the food finally returns to her in a way she can stomach. There's the tempting deflowering of an underaged hostess. There's the attempt by the boss to become friends with his employees.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (7 ):

Waiting tries to be everything, but unfortunately, it doesn't do anything particularly well. It attempts to be a coming-of-age movie, teenage sex farce, romantic comedy, and worker angst flick -- and sticks it all together with the, er, glue of "pervert" jokes and politically incorrect humor.

If there's any reason to watch this movie -- and that's a big if -- it's for Justin Long's sympathetic rendering of a guy in the throes of his quarter-life crisis. When his former honors class peer comes in to rub Dean's nose in his success, you want to punch him just as much as Dean does. And when Dean finally makes his decision about his future, you cheer him on.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what they would do in Dean's situation. Would you stay with your friends or start a new job? Also, what attracts teens to these kinds of gross-out sex comedies? Is the raunchy humor necessary?

Movie Details

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