"The Absent-Minded Waiter" is a 7-minute live action short film from 1977, so this one has its 40th anniversary this year. This little movie is truly star-studded if you take a look at who worked on it in front of and behind the camera. First of all, Steve Martin plays the most forgetful waiter on the planet. no need to further elaborate on him. His 2 co-actors both have Oscar nominations, the woman for acting, the man for writing and directing. The director Carl Gottlieb who turns 80 next year is a Golden Globe nominee for his Jaws screenplay. And even in the very minor roles you will find people with multiple Emmy nominations. So no surprise this short film got nominated for an Oscar where it lost to a probably more touching work about spina bifida that is mostly forgotten today though unlike this one we have here. It is all about the slapstick and eventually about a revelation that explains why the restaurant guest really wanted that particular waiter. And now the woman understands as well. Okay I must say this was not a failure or anything, but it also really wasn't that funny where I would say yes it should have been nominated for an Oscar or even won. And the plot twist at the very end was also not as good or memorable to me where I would say it makes up for all the mediocrity before that. So I give this one a thumbs-down and recommend it to the very biggest Steve Martin fans. Everybody else can skip it and they won't be missing much.
Review of The Absent-Minded Waiter
