Set almost entirely inside a busy, upscale Tribeca eatery, the movie is an impressively deft re-creation of a familiar space.
Dinner Rush (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:44
Fresh:40
Rotten:4
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: With the aid of a witty script and a well-acted ensemble, Dinner Rush is a tasty dish.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, some violence and sexuality
Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins
Genre: Comedies
Theatrical Release:Sep 28, 2001 Limited
Synopsis: Bob Giraldi, award-winning director of commercials and music videos (Michael Jackson's "Beat It"), uses his own restaurant--Gigino's Trattoria--as the starting point for his debut feature, DINNER... Bob Giraldi, award-winning director of commercials and music videos (Michael Jackson's "Beat It"), uses his own restaurant--Gigino's Trattoria--as the starting point for his debut feature, DINNER RUSH. The film is about one lively night at a trendy restaurant in the TriBeCa area of New York City. Louis (Danny Aiello) is an aging bookie and restauranter who's bemoaning the transformation of Gigino's from a down-to-earth, mom-and-pop Italian eatery to a pretentious, see-and-be-seen establishment. Louis's talented son, Udo (Edoardo Ballerini), is an ambitious star chef who wants to take over the restaurant because he claims his food and his style are responsible for the success of the business. To make matters worse, Louis is confronted by a pair of thugs known as Black and Blue who murdered his partner and now want to take over his place. Mark Margolis is hilarious as the droll art critic and nightmare customer, Fitzgerald. Summer Phoenix plays a smart-talking waitress. And topping off the colorful cast is Sandra Bernhard who plays a snotty food critic. [More]
Starring: Danny Aiello, Edoardo Ballerini, Vivian Wu, Sandra Bernhard
Starring: Danny Aiello, Edoardo Ballerini, Vivian Wu, Sandra Bernhard, Mike McGlone, Summer Phoenix
Director: Bob Giraldi
Director: Bob Giraldi
Screenwriter: Brian Kalata, Rick Shaughnessy
Producer: Lou DiGiaimo, Patti Greaney
Composer: Alexander Lasarenko
Studio: Access Motion Picture Group
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Reviews for Dinner Rush
Not knowing its story is Dinner Rush's biggest failing--and frankly for as bad as that is, it could've been worse.
You keep waiting for that one scene or piece of dialogue that will get things going, and it never comes.
Marked by broad acting, bland dialogue and thin plotting, Dinner Rush is the equivalent of an expensive vanity production.
There are enough plots here to challenge a Robert Altman, specialist in interlocking stories, but the director, Bob Giraldi, masters the complexities as if he knows the territory.
Fiery energy, swift, character-driven chitchat and a tough, upbeat sense of how the world works.
'…beautifully captures the spirit and pace of a popular, bustling eating-house.'
The first food movie to capture the joyful civilized mania of people who live not just to eat but to talk about eating.
This is really the first [food movie] to capture the exhilaration of a kitchen sautéing on all cylinders.
This is an unusually patient and composed feature – it's solidly scripted, it knows where it's going and arrives there with a minimum of fuss.
It's refreshing to see a food film that for once doesn't pour on sentimental cooking-as-life metaphors.
Food, family and comic melodrama are served in equal portions in this witty, urban film.
One of the neatest aspects of the film is that it treats this restaurant like a theater set on a revolving stage.
Set in a downtown restaurant, this is a small, well-acted (particularly by Danny Aiello) quintessentially New York film that recalls indie movies of the 1980s.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| 68% 68% | Funny People |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 14% 14% | The Ugly Truth |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 86% 86% | A Christmas Tale |
| 60% 60% | Paper Heart |
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