I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I love this movie so much

Truly Dreadful Film

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"Dinner Rush" is a 2000 film starring Danny Aiello, Edoardo Ballerini, John Corbett, Polly Draper, Kirk Acevedo, and Sandra Bernhard, directed by Bob Giraldi, and written by Rick Shaughnessy and Brian Kalata.The story concerns a very trendy Soho restaurant owned by Louis Cropa; his son Udo (Ballerini) is the popular chef, who makes nouvelle cuisine with an Italian slant. The place is packed to the rafters every night, though Louis doesn't really approve of these dishes, which are not straight down the line Italian. Udo wants to take over the restaurant but so far, his father is resistant.We learn the history of the place early on -- Louis and his partner were low-level bookies using the restaurant as a front, and when some thugs from Queens wanted a partnership in the restaurant, Louis' partner refused them and is later killed on the street. Louis no longer takes bets and has turned legitimate. However, he can't control Duncan (Acevedo), who works at the restaurant and is a compulsive gambler, now into these same guys for $13,000. On this particular night, the queens thugs come into the restaurant on the invitation of Louis; but he has also invited a police detective (Walt MacPherson) and his wife to be his guests for dinner.What makes this film is the atmosphere, a very typical one for an upscale restaurant with repeat, high profile clientèle. The wait staff is incredibly gracious to some very demanding customers, and there are many perks if you had to wait too long in line or if the boss knows you.The kitchen, however, is like the wild west, with all kinds of screaming and throwing things, and Udo losing his temper. It's all absolutely perfect and really makes you feel as if you're there.The performances are excellent, from Aiello's underplayed, honest performance, to John Corbett relaxing at the bar and talking to a woman there to meet someone who doesn't show, to Ballerini's intense, artistic Udo, proud of his accomplishments, and finally to Aceveda's messed up Duncan, working and trying to listen to a race at the same time, realizing it's another bad bet, and meeting his girlfriend for stolen moments on the fire escape.The end of the film, though I expected some of it, changes the atmosphere drastically in seconds.Truly fantastic film that took me through something I experienced many times while living in New York. Highly recommended.

"Dinner Rush" (2003) is a great color film noir movie packed with atmosphere, ECU's, and great food up close.It is a stylish movie about a single evening behind the scenes at a trendy New York City restaurant (in "Tribeca" which was a Manhattan warehouse district in the west "20's" only a few decades ago) successful because it is stylish....a restaurant run by a father and son Italian-American team which makes more than $250,000 on the night depicted, which is besieged by gangsters who demand to take it over, and have already murdered one of its two elderly owners.The movie keeps our attention from start to finish. The acting and writing is superb, and we like all the people portrayed, even the villains (always the mark of a great movie).In common with other great Italian "restaurant movies" ("Goodfellas" comes to mind), the closeup camera shots of wonderful food and wine served in large portions and goblets is one reason the movie is great.It's about good food served in a good restaurant where both the kitchen staff and the food service staff are all artists of high accomplishment.....performing artists providing a compelling and satisfying show for the lucky audience....the customers.Seeing "Dinner Rush" (2003) is like making an actual visit to a great, stylish NYC upscale Italian restaurant (which in the movie refuses to serve traditional "meatballs and spaghetti" type Italian food in favor of ultra-gourmet food of the sort trendy NYC food and restaurant reviewers live to write about).The entire movie is an experience in a cramped, close quarters space, which is always true of New York City restaurants. Spacious places no longer exist, especially if they only recently became prominent.The kitchen is tiny and crowded, and customer area is an elbow-to-elbow experience, and the frequent shots of wine, wine, wine (and occasional non-wine cocktail drinks) fit right in.Going to this incredible, memorable restaurant requires pain control, which is why the booze is not optional.....it's a requirement.This is a "night-time" (film noir) movie in which highlight scenes take place in small, dark spaces, with the climax scene at the end of the movie set in the downstairs men's toilet (where the two menacing gangsters are dispatched to their maker by a very unlikely hit man).The movie is packed with Extreme Closeups ("ECU's") where the entire screen is taken up with the faces of key actors, and sometimes background actors.I have never seen a movie this good with as many facial closeup shots as in this movie. A movie shot like that can only work if the actors are wonderful, and so is the script. Both actors and script are indeed wonderful in "Dinner Rush" (2000).This movie is a true work of cinematic art and genius.I first learned about it when I had just left the Algonquin Hotel restaurant on 44th St. in NYC and walked past the Harvard (University alumni) Club a few doors down. A sign in the window about 8 inches square quietly advised that "Dinner Rush" (2003) would be screened for members as part of the club's special film program.I never saw other publicity about the movie (which, it is true, I didn't learn about until 3 years after it was made), and thank my lucky stars the NYC Harvard Club's film enthusiasts put that sign in the club's front window for passers by like me to see.Great, great food and restaurant movie good in every way.-------- Written by Tex (David) Allen, SAG Actor.Email Tex Allen at [email protected] WWW.IMDb.Me/TexAllen for movie credits and biography.

This film crackles with authenticity. Danny Aiello is great in the lead role as the owner of this eatery, rushed off its feet in the evening rush after the day leading to it. He plays ironically opposite to his oft gangster roles. Well structured with an interesting mix of characters, showing their chemistry with each other, the boss, the son, the dish hands, the restaraunts patrons, and food critic, the lust, and the great character John Corbett plays.Dinner Rush is well worth a look. I am sure you won't be disappointed if you like films that simmer at a medium temperature so it becomes cooked nicely at the end with a good surprise in the end how it turned out.

This is one the rare gems of independent cinema.I wish more people had seen this when it came out. It is a beautifully shot film about the life of a restaurant on a busy night. But there is so much more to this film. It combines a fascinating mob element that you don't fully understand until the end with the delicate flair of a master chef combining ingredients in a meal. The ending is immensely surprising and gratifying. All the performances are believable, especially Corbett who is in his best film. It is the dynamic of a trendy restaurant dealing with a record-breaking night, however that makes this film superb. It takes so many lives and elements and brings them together with aplomb. This is one of the best films in recent years.