Kumar Pallana is easy to like. He managed to steal most of the scenes in the early Wes Anderson comedies despite his small roles. His knife wielding servant in The Royal Tananbaums was brilliant. In The Terminal, proved he could flesh out larger roles. It was this admiration for Kumar Pallana that encouraged me to seek out Waiting Room, a short 10 minute film that gave him the chance to play the lead role. The plot of the film is simple: Kumar hurts his back and is forced to wait endlessly with a room of 'wacky' characters to see a doctor. Unfortunately, the 10 minute running time feels about 8 minutes too long. The writing is hackneyed. The characters are all tired old stereotypes. The situations are desperately unnatural. The jokes are lame. In particular, the one about Kumar's undone fly have been told on primary school playgrounds for at least 30 years. Kumar is the best thing in this film. However, even he is disappointing. I'd advise sticking with the Wes Anderson films if your jonesing for Kumar. I give Waiting Room a 2 out of 10.
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