In the atmospheric mystery-comedy that is "Waiting for the Bus," Ethan F. Allen plays a regular guy having to be situated in one spot for longer than he'd like, which represents being a regular situation for any of us.
His character, Max, doesn't necessarily want to be there, but he has to be there. Why is he there is the question that drives the story. The movie starts with a steady pace, shown with notes of love to the big city of Los Angeles carefully dotting the beginning credits. When he finds himself abruptly confronted by the handful of Los Angelenos, such as Melody (Lisa Laureta) with her two dogs and her post-modern behaviors battling his old-school mentalities, or Mac (Alex Pierce-Ling) with his anti-government, Bigfoot-is-real manic propaganda, or Chauncy (Steve Fix) spouting crazy all over the screen, there's a lot of conflict, but also some agreements. Most movies try too hard to be deep but truly are superficial underneath, all trying to create an ethos of knowing why we're all here. This film tells those humble campfire stories happening in the late evenings that many know about but haven't experienced themselves.
These types of movies have evolved to become niche instead of broad strokes of the brush - as director Dena Derakhshan breaks down what could be vignettes for each of the characters into little hints of what the story is moving along towards. The path of each of us is differing, just like the story itself ranges from comedic to maddening personas we all deal with, though each person that shows up is wildly different from each other, they are all connected by the same way of being residents of a big city.
There isn't much scenery to watch for as it's all in one space, but that forces us to watch the characters. There are plenty of cutaways and one or two camera movements besides the intermittent montage of beauty that is Los Angeles. This is the director's second feature-film to direct, and by the end of the film it's an acknowledgement that he's on a path himself. But which path? This film, along with previous works have been relatively small projects for such a director who highlights action or thriller scenes in a handful of shots shown. The film, while not perfect, has many ideas shown, and spoken about. The best idea wins and when there's plenty of people and ideas involved, a few of them are gonna spark. What will be the result of these sparks? The careers of many for years to come.
In today's world with everyone having a 4K phone camera that make things look cinematic with the push of a button, our audiences are not ignorant as they were decades ago. The way to capture their spirit and dollars is by immersing them with characters that are interesting and realistic, with just a burst of over-the-top. This is what today's audiences crave and desire to be like those same characters.
Whether we like or dislike this film, there's no denying the talented cast and crew. One of the screenwriters and producers, Deborah Huerta (along with Derakhshan), has a way to show by hinting, and having the handful of characters talking about their own immediate needs while influencing what their true agendas are. Huerta brings in random quips that make you double-take while watching. So this makes the film a dark comedy of sorts that has an air of mystery that keeps your eyes glued.
"Waiting for the Bus" comes hot out of the post-pandemic crazy. It was filmed a few months after the Covid vaccines were available and filmed with a minimal cast and crew. The rocky camera show this, but it also feels as though it was meant to be Cinéma vérité. I'm not sure what to think after seeing the ending. Most storytellers want us to know everything about a film, but even the trailer barely gives us enough information to decide if it's the type of film to spend a little over an hour on. Maybe that's what is happening: The filmmakers want us to decide for ourselves.
