The Waiting Room - Metacritic

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2012
Not Rated
1 h 21 m

2012
Not Rated
1 h 21 m

Summary The Waiting Room uses unprecedented access to go behind the doors of Oakland’s Highland Hospital, a safety-net hospital fighting for survival while weathering the storm of a persistent economic downturn. Stretched to the breaking point, Highland is the primary care facility for 250,000 patients of nearly every nationality, race, and reli...

Documentary

Directed By: Peter Nicks

2012
Not Rated
1 h 21 m

2012
Not Rated
1 h 21 m

The Waiting Room

Metascore Universal Acclaim Based on 12 Critic Reviews

84

User Score Available after 4 ratings

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Summary The Waiting Room uses unprecedented access to go behind the doors of Oakland’s Highland Hospital, a safety-net hospital fighting for survival while weathering the storm of a persistent economic downturn. Stretched to the breaking point, Highland is the primary care facility for 250,000 patients of nearly every nationality, race, and reli...

Documentary

Directed By: Peter Nicks

Where to Watch

Top Cast

Sean Bennett

Dameon

View All Cast & Crew

Critic Reviews

Metascore

Universal Acclaim Based on 12 Critic Reviews

92% Positive
11 Reviews

8% Mixed
1 Review

0% Negative
0 Reviews

All Reviews
Positive Reviews
Mixed Reviews
Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

Metascore

Universal Acclaim Based on 12 Critic Reviews

92% Positive
11 Reviews

8% Mixed
1 Review

0% Negative
0 Reviews

All Reviews
Positive Reviews
Mixed Reviews
Negative Reviews

Washington Post

Nov 30, 2012

With grace, discretion and supreme tact, Nicks sweeps viewers to a climactic montage that wordlessly honors the best ways we care for one another. The Waiting Room bears poetic witness to an overlooked fact: America's health care system may be broken, but its people are anything but.

By Ann Hornaday FULL REVIEW

The New York Times

Sep 25, 2012

Scrupulously apolitical, The Waiting Room is the opposite of a polemic like Michael Moore's "Sicko." But by removing any editorial screen, it confronts you head-on with human suffering that a more humane and equitable system might help alleviate.

By Stephen Holden FULL REVIEW

Nov 29, 2012

The movie observes the general misery of needing serious medical treatment and the particular awfulness of needing medical treatment you can't pay for.

By Wesley Morris FULL REVIEW

Sep 28, 2012

The Waiting Room is a source of both inspiration and hope. The system may be broken, but the people are not.

By Andrew O'Hehir FULL REVIEW

Boxoffice Magazine

Sep 24, 2012

There's more to it than a black-and-white political conclusion, and the laundry list of California documentary heroes in the credits suggests this film is humanist before it's agenda driven.

By Sara Maria Vizcarrondo FULL REVIEW

Los Angeles Times

Sep 27, 2012

Wherever you stand on healthcare and the fact that uninsured people nationwide use emergency rooms for basic services, the documentary The Waiting Room is a revealing portrait of the often tough transactions between patients and hospital staff at the urgency level.

By Robert Abele FULL REVIEW

Sep 25, 2012

The documentary's scope feels a bit small overall - more concerned with capturing the episodic adventures of these disparate subjects than with connecting their experiences to larger societal ills.

By Keith Uhlich FULL REVIEW

See All 12 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Details

Production Company Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), ITVS International, Open'hood, Peer Review Films

Release Date Sep 28, 2012

Duration 1 h 21 m

Rating Not Rated

Genres

Documentary

Tagline One Hospital, Hundreds of Stories.

Website http://whatruwaitingfor.com/facebook/

View All Details

Awards

San Francisco Film Critics Circle

• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations

Film Independent Spirit Awards

• 1 Win & 2 Nominations

Ashland Independent Film Festival

• 1 Win & 1 Nomination

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