Waitress! was the pre-Toxie Troma production I had heard the least about... and what I had heard wasn't very positive. It's barely ever mentioned during any kind of Troma retrospective and pretty much overlooked in Lloyd's first book. After finding Squeeze Play! to be satisfying, yet somewhat mediocre, I was a bit afraid of what was in store with Waitress!

The film takes place at a ritzy New York restaurant (imagine that) and tells the story of three of the waitresses. First, there's Andrea (Carol Drake): the aspiring actress who dreams of landing her dream part, much to the dismay of her boyfriend, the restaurant manager Jerry(Jim Harris). She eventually becomes dead-set on playing Joan of Arc in a major Broadway production, even if it means hounding the producer everywhere he goes to get it.

The second plotline involves a country girl named Jennifer(Carol Bevar) who is working undercover at the restaurant to write an article on finding the right man for Mature Teen Magazine. The third involves Lindsey(Renata Majer), the spoiled brat daughter of the restaurant's owner being forced to work in the restaurant after being kicked out of her prep school.

But all of these plotlines take a backseat to a cornucopia of gags and puns. Some of the gags are pretty entertaining, while others are painfully cheesy. They're very comic strip-esque, as opposed to being comic book-esque. One big problem is that there are too many gags staged at one time, making many scenes of the film incredibly chaotic. I know it's a Troma film, but the chaos wasn't as inspired as it'd become in films like Terror Firmer. Also, remember that wacky "guy tied up with his pants down and a stereo booming loud music, attracting attention to neighbors" scene in Squeeze Play!? Troma recycles it again in Waitress!

The rest of the film is pretty top notch. The cast is good, except for a few scenes where Jim Harris is incredibly uninspired and Renata Majer is incredibly obnoxious. Troma fans should note that Waitress! features the first onscreen reference to Troma (a sign reads "Troma Preparatory School" toward the beginning of the film).

Overall, Waitress! is far from a perfect film, but it's not too bad. However, the consistency and quality of the jokes still hasn't reached the level of brilliance that Troma's later works would show. It's a good watch for Troma fans, but not a very even film overall.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars