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  • 2012
  • Not Rated
  • International Film Circuit
  • 1 h 21 m
  • 2012
  • Not Rated
  • International Film Circuit
  • 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...

  • 2012
  • Not Rated
  • International Film Circuit
  • 1 h 21 m
  • 2012
  • Not Rated
  • International Film Circuit
  • 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...

Where to Watch

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 12 Critic Reviews
84
92% Positive
11 Reviews
8% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Universal Acclaim Based on 12 Critic Reviews
84
92% Positive
11 Reviews
8% Mixed
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
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
100
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
88
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
80
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
80
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
70
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
60
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

User Reviews

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Details

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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
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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