# Waiting... (film)
**Waiting...** is a 2005 American comedy film written and directed by Rob McKittrick, set during a single day at Shenaniganz, a fictional suburban chain restaurant, where the young waitstaff and kitchen crew stave off boredom and adulthood with pranks, crude games, and petty schemes.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waiting) • [2](https://stream-tracker.com/en/film/waiting-2005) It stars [Ryan Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/ryan-reynolds) as the veteran server Monty, Justin Long as the waiter Dean, who must choose between a promotion to manager and leaving the industry, and [Anna Faris](https://www.edgepedia.org/anna-faris) as Serena, with [John Francis Daley](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-francis-daley) as the new employee Mitch, whose first day Monty shepherds into the worst of his life.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waiting)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Rob McKittrick, a former Orlando and southern Florida chain-restaurant waiter[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waiting) • [3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-06-wk-movie6-story.html) |
| Release | Wide theatrical release October 7, 2005 by Lionsgate in 1,652 theaters; DVD February 7, 2006[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Waiting) |
| Box office | $16,124,543 domestic, $18,673,274 worldwide, against a $1,125,000 production budget; estimated DVD sales of $39,848,952[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Waiting) |
| Reception | 29% Tomatometer (92 reviews) and 75% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 30 on Metacritic, "generally unfavorable"[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waiting) • [5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/waiting/critic-reviews/) |
| Rating / runtime | R for strong crude and sexual humor, pervasive language and some drug use; 94 minutes[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Waiting) |
| Principal cast | Ryan Reynolds (Monty), Anna Faris (Serena), Justin Long (Dean), David Koechner (Dan), Dane Cook (Floyd), John Francis Daley (Mitch), Chi McBride (Bishop), Luis Guzmán (Raddimus)[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Waiting) |
| Availability | Streaming on Prime Video and free with ads on The Roku Channel, The CW, Plex, Kanopy, Hoopla, and Fawesome[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/waiting-2005) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and setting
The film unfolds over one shift at Shenaniganz, an Applebee's-style casual chain restaurant. Staffers engage in pranks and games on and off the clock, including a running gag in which male employees trick one another into looking at their genitals, and set pieces showing what vindictive servers do with food sent back to the kitchen.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waiting) • [7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2005/10/07/heres-a-tip-youll-lose-your-appetite/c22fc9cc-0a0d-4506-9617-a96bbe5207aa/) The dramatic spine follows Dean ([Justin Long](https://www.edgepedia.org/justin-long)), cajoled by a former classmate who has just graduated with an engineering degree, as he wonders whether life exists beyond the service industry and weighs a promotion to manager against leaving.[8](https://www.timeout.com/movies/waiting) Monty (Ryan Reynolds) trains the newcomer Mitch while fighting temptation in the form of an underage colleague.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waiting)
## Origin
Rob McKittrick drew the film directly from his own work history. He spent six years waiting tables in southern Florida restaurants from T.G.I. Friday's to Roadhouse Grill, and described a moment four years in when he realized the same archetypes, the flirted-with hostess, the overbearing manager, the burned-out lifer server, appeared at every restaurant where he worked. He wrote the script at 24, observing that waiting tables is a great job at 20 but "downright sobering" at 27.[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-06-wk-movie6-story.html) Before the Hollywood version became plausible, he had spent $10,000 of credit-card debt shooting his own version after hours at an Orlando restaurant, planning the independent-festival route; the produced film was instead made on a $3-million budget with a cast including Reynolds, Faris, Long, Andy Milonakis, Luis Guzmán, and [Dane Cook](https://www.edgepedia.org/dane-cook).[3](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-06-wk-movie6-story.html)
## Reception
Critics rated the film poorly. Rotten Tomatoes records a 29% Tomatometer from 92 reviews, with the critics consensus calling it "a gross-out comedy that is more gross than comic," against a 75% audience score from more than 100,000 ratings.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waiting) Metacritic's Metascore of 30 falls in its "generally unfavorable" band, with 3 positive, 11 mixed, and 12 negative reviews out of 26 counted.[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/waiting/critic-reviews/) Reviewers objected to the humor's reliance on disgust: the Seattle Post-Intelligencer warned readers not to watch it "unless you have a high tolerance and an undemanding appreciation for penis jokes,"[5](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/waiting/critic-reviews/) and The Washington Post called it derivative of "American Pie" and the [Farrelly brothers](https://www.edgepedia.org/farrelly-brothers).[7](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2005/10/07/heres-a-tip-youll-lose-your-appetite/c22fc9cc-0a0d-4506-9617-a96bbe5207aa/) The San Francisco Chronicle's Peter Hartlaub, in a more positive 75 review, predicted it would "play on an endless loop at Comedy Central for the rest of our lives" and credited the Monty/Mitch relationship with a "disturbing-yet-hilarious tour" of food service.[9](https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/At-Shenanigans-chain-restaurant-the-name-says-it-2603907.php) Time Out judged it a wasted opportunity for general audiences but saw "cult potential for youthful male restaurant workers."[10](https://www.timeout.com/movies/waiting-1)
## Box office and afterlife
The film opened at number 7 with $6,021,106, 37.3% of its eventual domestic total, and ran six weeks in wide release to a domestic gross of $16,124,543 and a worldwide total of $18,673,274, about 16.6 times its $1,125,000 production budget.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Waiting) Its estimated domestic DVD sales of $39,848,952 more than doubled the theatrical gross, a pattern consistent with a film that found its audience on home video.[4](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Waiting)
That audience has proved durable. Restaurant-industry publications and workers repeatedly name the film when asked how accurately the culinary world is portrayed on screen, sometimes seriously and sometimes with a grain of salt.[11](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/feb/01/food-fact-vs-fiction-how-accurate-is-the-culinary-/) Commentators writing around its twentieth anniversary describe it as a "cult-favorite" comedy whose crude humor is a relic of mid-2000s bro-comedy but which "accurately captures the rude customers, shift chaos and staff dynamics" that restaurant workers recognize.[12](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/prime-video/critics-absolutely-despised-this-ryan-reynolds-comedy-but-i-couldnt-stop-laughing-stream-it-on-prime-video) The film is also frequently cited as an example of the cult-film pattern in which a poorly reviewed theatrical release builds a devoted niche audience over years through repeated viewings.[13](https://time.com/5943490/pandemic-cult-classics-barb-star/)
## Availability
As of the most recent availability checks, the film streams on Prime Video and free with ads on [The Roku Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-roku-channel), The CW, Plex, Kanopy, Hoopla, and Fawesome; it can be rented for $3.99 on Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Plex, YouTube, and Google Play Movies, and purchased digitally from $4.99. It is not currently on Netflix.[6](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/waiting-2005) • [14](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/waiting/21085/where-to-watch/)
## References
1. [Waiting... – Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/waiting)
2. [Waiting... - available on Netflix and streaming platforms?, Stream Tracker](https://stream-tracker.com/en/film/waiting-2005)
3. [His fateful walk from taking tips to 'Waiting ...' – Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-oct-06-wk-movie6-story.html)
4. [Waiting... (2005) – Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Waiting)
5. [Waiting... critic reviews – Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/waiting/critic-reviews/)
6. [Waiting... streaming: where to watch online? – JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/waiting-2005)
7. [Here's a Tip: You'll Lose Your Appetite – The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2005/10/07/heres-a-tip-youll-lose-your-appetite/c22fc9cc-0a0d-4506-9617-a96bbe5207aa/)
8. [Waiting... – Film review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/waiting)
9. [At Shenanigans chain restaurant, the name says it all – SFGate](https://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/At-Shenanigans-chain-restaurant-the-name-says-it-2603907.php)
10. [Waiting – Film review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/waiting-1)
11. [Food fact vs. fiction: How accurate is the culinary world portrayed in film and TV? – The Spokesman-Review](https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2022/feb/01/food-fact-vs-fiction-how-accurate-is-the-culinary-/)
12. [Critics absolutely despised this Ryan Reynolds comedy but I couldn't stop laughing – Tom's Guide](https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/prime-video/critics-absolutely-despised-this-ryan-reynolds-comedy-but-i-couldnt-stop-laughing-stream-it-on-prime-video)
13. [Will the Pandemic Spawn a New Genre of Cult Classics? – Time](https://time.com/5943490/pandemic-cult-classics-barb-star/)
14. [Waiting... (2005) – Where to Watch, Stream or Buy – Moviefone](https://www.moviefone.com/movie/waiting/21085/where-to-watch/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2005 to 2006*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license