Dinner Rush (2000)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Don't Believe the Hype

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

"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.

(Some Spoilers) The film "Dinner Rush" comes across like a combination of the Food Channel's Guy Fieri "Diners Drive-ins & Dives" and the "Sopranos". We have successful Tribeca restaurateur Louis Carpo, Danney Aiello, being hassled by these two mobsters from Queens Carmen & Paolo, Mike McGlone & Alex Corrado, who are trying to muscle their way into Louis' five star Italian Restaurant "The Trattoria" which has been in the Carpo family for some three generations. These two murderous thugs go so far as offing in a mob hit Louis' good friend and partner in the "Trattoria" Enrico Coventie, Fran Borgiorno, just to show him that they mean business. The business that they want is to become part owners of the eatery even though they, despite stuffing their faces with fine Italian food and wines, know nothing at all about the restaurant business!The two mobster have an ace up their sleeves in getting Louis to go along with their efforts to get part, and later all, of his business by having his compulsive gambler son and second or #2 chef at the "Trattoria" Ducan, Kirk Acevedo, in their hip pockets for $13,000.00 in gambling debts. By Paolo & Carmen using Ducan's gambling as a way to get to Louis has them feel he'll pay them off in making them partners in his eating establishment. This all backfires on them with Louis taking the 13 grand out of the till and paying them off in order to get the two mobsters off his and Duncan's back.It's obvious right from the start that Poalo & Carmen only want to get hold of Louis' restaurant which is knocking them, the customers, dead with the mind boggling dishes put out by Louis' #1 son and top chef in the joint Udo, Edwardo Ballerini, a man who loves cooking his dishes as much as Paolo and Carmen love eating them. Running the kitchen like a hard as nails US Marine Drill Sergeant Udo won't tolerate the slightest infraction of the Culinary Code of Ethics! We see earlier in the movie Udo can one of his cooks on the spot in him dicing , a major violation of the Code, instead of chopping chives. Udo for his part feels that he's being short changed by his dad in not being made a partner in the restaurant, which both Paolo & Carmen want to be, even though his dad thinks that his dishes are just out of this world and are filling the place to capacity every night!***MAJOR SPOILERS*** Louis being the man of peace, and having superhuman self restraint, that he is was more then willing to give up his bookie operation to Paolo & Carmen in order to keep them out of his life and restaurant but when they hit his best friend Enrico and then shook down #2 son Duncon that's when they went too far much too far with him. And that's when Louis decided to pay them off big time using his beloved restaurant "The Trattoria" as a trap in luring those two rats to their deaths!Very probably the very best of the many Mafia restaurant mob hit-jobs movies that's a lot like the real hit on gangster Dutch "The Dutchman" Schultz back in October 1935 in a Newark New Jersey spaghetti joint. Louis Carpo at first tries to reason with the smug and arrogant Queens thugs who seemed to have greatly underestimated him in his non violent attitude towards them. All Louis wanted was to talk things over and come to some reasonable decision with Paolo and Carmen but the two thought that they had him boxed into a corner. They didn't realize that he set them up right from the start and in the process had them stuff themselves, like a last meal for a convict about to be executed, before he had the boom lowered on them!

If you like to flip the channel dexterously between "The Sopranos" and the Food Network, this 2000 movie may be for you. Directed by Bob Giraldi, who is still probably most famous for directing a pre-surgery Michael Jackson in his "Beat It" video, the story is set in one evening almost entirely within the confines of a trendy downtown Manhattan restaurant in the trendy TriBeCa neighborhood. Giraldi succeeds in developing and maintaining a sense of combustible energy when it comes to an upscale restaurant's inner workings. He should know since he is part-owner of several such restaurants of which the one featured, Gigino Trattoria, is one. By comparison, the film feels less assured when it comes to the cross currents of its multiple dramatic elements.Although the movie has an omnibus feel about it, the plot primarily focuses on the inevitable conflicts between Louis, the old-school owner and Udo, his ambitious, hotshot chef son. It helps that Danny Aiello plays Louis in such an economical fashion as he can make his character's melodramatic situation convincing - quitting a bookmaking side-business that got his partner killed and handing over the reigns of the eatery to his son. Screenwriters Rick Shaughnessy and Brian Kalata have crafted a tight script, though there is a cursory feel to the film that gives us a Robert Altman-like hodgepodge of eccentric characters. Their lives are shuffled between courses with some odd casting choices that somehow work, for example, Sandra Bernhard as a harpy food critic in a bad wig and John Corbett as a deceptively casual bar regular.Edoardo Ballerini is not particularly interesting as Udo, but Kirk Acevedo provides jumpy energy to Duncan, the sous-chef whose gambling debt has a domino effect on the rest of the characters. The mob angle is played up with stock characters embodied by Mike McGlone and Alex Corrado as two obvious hoods, and there is even a pretentious dinner party headed by a pompous art gallery owner portrayed with obnoxious languor by Mark Margolis. However, it is the hustle of the food preparation in the kitchen when the film really takes off, in particular, when Udo creates a sensational-looking, customized lobster tower for Bernhard's character. It's surprising that Giraldi has not made more films, but at least he sticks with his obvious passion and comes up with an often-interesting dish that I have to believe Anthony Bourdain would love.

This is one of those undiscovered movies that are such a delight to stumble across.Solid script and expert direction along with a top-notch cast make this film about an Italian restaurant in New York a real joy to watch.Danny Aiello reminds us of why he became a star in this nuanced performance, and Summer Phoenix shows us why she should be in her supporting role. And the rest of the cast is firecracker sharp.Looking at the video box, it seemed to be about mobsters, but it's so much more than that. Yes, mobsters are part of the plot, but it's more like a Robert Altman film. Several intertwining stories combine in one night, and the mobsters are just part of that. So don't be put off by the video box, which suggests a pure mob movie.If you're a fan of smartly done films with depth and humor, see this!