Rating: 
Summary: When did eating dinner become a Broadway show?
Review: "Dinner Rush" is about one night at a fancy Italian restaurant in TriBeCa, although the prologue sets the stage for the proceedings when an old man is gunned down by gangsters. This film might be about food, but it is also about life and death, although clearly in this case they are pretty much the same thing. The restaurant in question is owned by Louis Cropa (Danny Aiello), while the superstar chef is his son, Udo (Edoardo Ballerini), and the two having been butting heads over the menu for quite some time. The place is apparently booked solid, with people waiting in line for a table, but Lou dispairs over the nuovo cuisine and wants something that tastes good and fills him up. The good news is that back in the kitchen a guy named Duncan (Kirk Acevedo) can make the "salsiccia e peproni" that Lou loves, but the bad news is Duncan cannot stop gambling.
Duncan's gambling puts the restaurant at risk. Lou is also a bookie and while he has cut Duncan off the kid has gone and found another bookie: the same one who had Lou's friend gunned down at the start of the movie. The competition (Mike McGlone)has shown up, sat down at a prime table, and informed Lou that they are not leaving until they have a partnership. Lou is not thrilled by the idea. Meanwhile, the restaurant is having a very busy night and Udo has already started firing people in the kitchen. This is going to be a long night.
Among those trying to eat in peace are a snobby art gallery owner (Mark Margolis) who is entertaining a visiting Greek artist and miffed that he had to wait 45 minutes for his table and a restaurant critic (Sandra Bernhard) who shows up in a disguise that fools no one. Watching the proceedings at the bar with a wry sense of detachment is Ken (John Corbett), where the bar tender apparently knows everything about anything. The waitress Marti (Summer Phoenix) and the maitresse 'd Nicole (Vivian Wu) are trying to keep everybody happy, but things are slowly building to a climax.
Aiello's character is the calm center of the storm and the question is how strong he really is when push comes to shove. Lou might seem like a gangster, but all he has his his restaurant, his book, his son and his friends. As he admits at one point, he has never held a real gun in his life, but in all that time nobody ever got killed. Now those days are over and his insistence that he will never give up the restaurant rings hollow.
Director Bob Giraldi made "Dinner Rush" in 21 days, but he had a big advantage since it was shot at his own restaurant, Gigino's. It has the look of a Robert Altman theme, but which much more of a sense of warmth and intimacy. He also covers the preparation of the meals in the kitchen with as much care and consideration as he gives his characters. Of course, once you find out that this film was shot in Giraldi's restaurant you are tempted to rethink "Dinner Rush" as a long commercial for the place. But getting to eat some of the food we see prepared and consumed in this film is not the worst of all possible fates and a good reason to put "Dinner Rush" on the menu with "Eat Drink Man Woman," "Like Water for Chocolate," "Babette's Feast" and other films that make you hungry, even if it does belong more with the appetizers than the entrées.
Rating: 
Summary: good eats
Review: A true gem. Caught two thirds of it on TV so missed the title. Been looking for it by tracking Danny Aiello. Then it ran again on a cable channel. Really good mix of several plots and characters mostly by actors unknown to me. Very understated. Nice plot twists.
Rating:
Summary: Revenge is best served when served up cold
Review: Absolutely fabulous - best movie I've seen in a long time. It's the Sopranos meet Kitchen Confidential. Wonderful casting. Has a surprise and "feel good" ending! I only wish there was a sound track - everything from opera to Michael Jackson - Great music. I really didn't know who Bob Giraldi was until this movie and I am really impressed.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this movie
Review: As a person who loves food, restaurants in Manhattan and Danny Aielleo, I think I loved this movie before I even saw it. But now that I've seen it I can't stop recommending it to every body I know. I loved this movie, the writing, performances, characters and of course, the wonderful recipes created by the kitchen staff.One can't help but realize how food has changed in the last 20 odd years and perhaps nowhere as much as the New York restaurant scene. Where once diners were afforded large home made food, today we are afforded smaller portions wonderfully presented with moutwatering tastes. We eat from a myriad of spices, tastes and countries. Everything is prepared with thought and passion and presentation is the key word. And it is Dinner Rush which presents to its viewers the old world of restaurants with mom and pop cooking in the back to today's world of tempermental chefs, sous chefs, matire d's, waiting in line and begging for a reservation. Dining today has become a palate of wonderful foods and memorable experiences. As one of the characters played by John Corbett says, "When did eating become a Broadway production?" But lest you think that Dinner Rush is only set in a restaurant and kitchen, which it is, the restaurant is so much more and sets the stage for a microcosm of all sorts of people living their lives with all sorts of challenges. From Danny Aiello, the original owner of this restaurant (owned by the director Bob Giraldi) who wonders what happened to spaghetti and meatballs on the menu, to his son, the highly educated chef with his own ideas to the sous chef addicted to betting and finally to the two underworld gentlemen who occupy seats during one night, this movie is a banquet for the eyes ear and nose. It is as if one is tasting the food through the words of all of these fine actors. Not since Big Night with Stanley Tucci, have I enjoyed a movie about food and restaurants as much as I did the night I saw Dinner Rush. And now you'll have to excuse me as I head out to a favorite Italtian restaurant. Just writing this review has made me hungry. Come to think of it, perhaps I'll see this movie again tonight I enjoyed it so much.
Rating:
Summary: Don't miss this indie gem
Review: As with one of the previous reviewers, I caught this movie on IFC the other night. I missed the first 10 minutes of the movie but once I tuned in for a few minutes, I couldn't turn the channel. Incredible acting and directing all around. The only beef I have is having the guy who blocked the stairs be so identifiable to the cop's wife. Didn't he have even a little bit of trouble with the cops before being able to drive away???
Inspired bit of casting having John Corbett play the ... I won't ruin it too much.
Strongest endorsement I can give is that as soon as it was over, I was looking online to buy this movie.
Rating:
Summary: Great Movie, Great Music
Review: Baldorini or however you spell it is great. He plays the maniacal demanding chef perfectly. The DJ from Northern Exposure is a great barfly. For anyone who once lived in NY and longs to go back DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE. Where can I get the soundtrack????
Rating:
Summary: A Must See Movie
Review: Dinner Rush is a must see movie. A sleeper that needs to find its audience. A well written scrpt, fabulous acting and a story that keeps your attention from beginning to end. Movie review Ebert has always said the best movies educate as well as entertain. Well, one certainly learns how a kitchen works during the rush hour.
Rating: 
Summary: beautifully filmed, but one dimensional and thin
Review: Dinner Rush is well paced, and the opening scene of Tribeca in the winter is gorgeous. In fact, if you can appreciate a film for its cinematography and editing, you'll love this. The frenetic kitchen scenes are particularly noteworthy. As are the scenes shot by candlelight during a power outage. Unfortunately, the movie's one dimensional characters and tired cliches provide no substance with which to support the visuals. The characters are too thin to be engaging, as is the plot. Luckily, the movie's saved from disaster by superb acting all around. Among the cliches, you'll find the aging bookies thinking about quitting the life, dot com yuppy humor, a triangle between growing son, aging father and "adopted son", the dearly departed family matron, a buddy film between the older gents, an acerbic art dealer with star artists and groupies, an aspiring artist, a primadonna chef, a wise know-it-all bartender, a snobbish food critic, a working class cop, a struggling single mother god-daughter trying to get by, a battle between nouvelle cuisine's shallowness and pretension vs. the soul and nourishment of old world meatballs, the grit of New York, working class Queens vs. urbane Manhattan, etc. etc.
Rating:
Summary: Mangia!!
Review: Dinner Rush tells the story of one day in the life of a Tribeca eatery undergoing an identity crisis.
The owner (Danny Aiello) likes his classic and traditional Italian dishes. His son, a rising celebrity chef is into nouveau cuisine. He reminds his father in one scene "sausage and peppers is not on my menu".
In the course of the evening, there will be an offer made to Louis by two known gangsters they insist he cannot refuse, one of the city's top food critics makes an unannounced visit, the staff will have to deal with a melange of difficult customers, the chef will insist his father step down and sell him the business, the sous chef has made a perilous and ill advised bet with the aforesaid gangsters and is listening to his money go up in smoke on a transistor radio, and just why is John Corbett sitting at the bar and observing all of the goings on?
If you liked Big Night, you're absolutely going to love this movie. Very well done!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Great Emsemble Drama; Frenzied Night in New York Restaurant
Review: Director Bob Giraldi, born in 1939, comes back to feature film after 14 years hietus, but his fame has already been firmly established as an acclaimed music video creator (responsible for Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and many, many others). So, you may think that "Dinner Rush" is just another MTV-influenced nonsense to cash in on his name. No, the film is actually an exciting experience that only Bob Giraldi can provide. And it is shot in his own restraunt "Gigino" in Tribeca, New York. The film starts with a hideous crime on the snowy street of cold New York City, but don't be worried. "Dinner Rush", never betraying our expectations we would have from the title, soon introduces us to the hot world inside of a popular restaurant run by Louis Cropa (perfectly cast Danny Aiello), where desire of people is smouldering. But Louis, it seems, has many things to be worried about. His son Udo, the star chef and master of "new cuisine" of the place, repeatedly urges his father Louis to give the ownership of the restaurant to him. The sous-chef Duncan, not a bad fellow at all, is stuck deep in debt as a result of his gambling, and today Louis, to his dismay, finds that there are two unwelcome guests at the best table, who are here to require some money. And those terrifying guys seem aiming at the "partnership" of the place, to eventually take over this popular spot. The film features comparatively unknown but talented cast. Among them, you will definitely remember the acid-tongued critic (Sandra Bernhard); the very mean-spirited guest (Mark Margolis); and the patient waitress aspiring to be an artist (Summer Phoenix). There is also a bartender (and quiz-master) and a mystrious guest who is supposed to come from the Wall Street (but really?). However, by the time the film ends, you will see that it is Danny Aiello who is the real master of the place. The story is almost buried among the fast pace of editing, and the middle part of the film might make you feel disoriented with too many characters. The film is certainly weak there, apparently not knowing where to go. But wait for a while. Everything fits in its place in the end, you will be not a little surprised to see the conclusion of the film. The power of "Dinner Rush" lies in its atmosphere Bob Giraldi creates with a handy-type camera, and the realistic images of those "rush"ing characters in the kitchen and the narrow stairs leading there are always fascinating, realizing the hectic pace of cooking. As I said, Giraldi, owner of the place where the film is shot, knows this world very well, and there are also amusing (but uncomfortably real) portraits of people involved in this industry. Aiello's character, half distressed to witness the changes done to the place since the good old days, clearly shares the feeling of the director himself, and these satrical viewpoints are also delicious treats for those interested in this ever-popular business. "Dinner Rush" is not just a film about food; it is a tight-knit emsemble drama with solid cast, and even peppered with a surprising element of gangster films. I enjoyed it, and hope you do, too.
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