What did you think of "The Waiting Game"?   Good 38% 26   Bad 28% 19   Somewhere in between 3% 2   Haven't seen it 31% 21 Total Votes   68

Grade: C

Verdict: A well-made but overly familiar valentine to struggling actors.

Details: Starring Terumi Matthews and Will Arnett. Unrated. 1 hour, 21 minutes.

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Review: All the main characters of "The Waiting Game" are waiters and waitresses. But the movie title really refers to the time they spend at casting calls and auditions. See, they don't consider themselves members of the service industry, but great actors in waiting.

Writer-director Ken Liotti's affectionate tribute to 20-something thespians in Manhattan is briskly paced and has a few glimmers of wit. But mostly it serves up familiar stuff. It's a movie catering to a very limited group — basically, other aspiring actor-waiters who share the same lingo, dreams and frustrations.

Terumi Matthews plays Andi, whose best pal, Lenny (Will Arnett), is tempted from his long-term relationship by would-be model Shannon (Taylor Stanley). Meanwhile, Derek (Eddie Malavarca) worries about his impotency with women and starts to wonder if he should try his luck with gay colleague Joe (Dwight Ewell).

The movie's most promising plot line follows Andi's growing attraction to construction worker Franco (Michael Raynor). The twist is, she was secretly hired by his girlfriend to hit on him at a bar as a sort of "fidelity test." At first, Franco passes just fine. But gradually the two are drawn together.

Unfortunately, if you've seen just about any romantic comedy ever made, it's clear from the start that Andi and Lenny are Best Platonic Friends who will realize by the final reel that they should be more than that. It's a shame the flick sticks to formula, because Raynor is a far more magnetic actor than Arnett.

The dramatis personae include pompous Dan (Daniel Riordan), who stages a lethally long one-man show that spotlights his lousy technique. It's a Bad Theater scene we've seen in too many other movies.

At one point, Dan rages at an unimpressed Hollywood casting director. I think we're supposed to agree with Dan's righteous passion. It's hard to do, because the character (and perhaps the actor playing him) is annoying and not especially talented. We're supposed to like him just because he's an actor. If that makes sense to you, this is your kind of movie.

— Steve Murray, Cox News Service

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