Rating: 
Summary: Bang Bang for the buck
Review: Food, crime, atmosphere, it's all here. Danny Aiello is at once in the mix and on top of the game here. A great crime and food drama. Just buy it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Very Unexpected Surprise (4.5 stars)
Review: Hard to believe that I have never heard of this movie until I picked it up one night. I like Danny Aiello and I like Mafia type movies. I also like films that revolve mostly around characters and dialogue, as this movie appeared to be just that. So I decided to give it a try. "Dinner Rush" is a highly entertaining film that is both enjoyable and unpredictable.Owner and bookie Louis Cropa is trying to run a legitimate business. He runs a restaurant and takes great pride in it. However, things get out of hand after his partner is murdered and his chef's gambling problem attracts some unfriendly gangsters to the restaurant. Not to mention that Cropa's son is giving him an attitude, being that he's the head chef and he thinks that he can run the place alone just fine. One thing is for sure, this New York's busy restaurant is the set-up for one wild and unpredictable night to remember. I was very impressed by this film, being that I wasn't sure what to expect. The acting was great by everyone, the movie was shot and done very well, and the story was engaging from start to finish. It is very hard to have a film rely heavily on only characters and dialogue, but this film does it almost perfectly. I guess my only complaint is that it's a bit short and I think there could've been more outrageous things going on, since there are so many characters around and different opportunities at every corner. Still, I was overall very pleased with it all. The DVD really doesn't have much to offer, being that it's not a very big budget film. It's probably also due to the fact that not many people know this film even exists. The picture and sound quality was really good. Special features included are: both widescreen and fullscreen formats, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, and a theatrical trailer. There's also DVD-Rom content, but that I have not tried out. I did enjoy the trailer though; not too revealing, but at the same time wets your appetite. "Dinner Rush" is a complete joy to watch. Like I said, I love it when movies revolve around characters and dialogue rather than on a complex plot. If you're looking for a movie with a simple plot, unpredictable situations, and outrageous characters, this might be the perfect choice for you.
Rating:
Summary: Revenge is a dish best served cold...
Review: I first saw this movie on a jet plane 36,000 feet over Europe. Being a Travel, Food and Wine Writer myself, I can identify a lot with the characters in the movie from the snooty chef groupie to the raunchy femme fatale food writer. All the action takes place in one evening from about 5pm to 12 midnight. The twists and turns in the plot are a joy to watch and enjoy. The acting is very good, gritty and realistic. It captures the heat in the kitchen and the reactions of the guests to the food and all the fast paced escapades in the busy restaurant. The up and coming Celebrity chef is smmoth and slick, especially when it comes to buttering up the lady food writers... in more ways than one (and I'm not talking about the Tiramisu). La Cosa Nostra features prominently too, and I liked the line when the restaurant owner tells the Police officer his views on Omerta (the centuries old Mafia vow of silence), "You don't believe that s_ _ _ , do you?" The hitman is really excellent, and at the end of the movie, you realise that, just like in a good spy movie, nothing is quite what it seems. The ending is most satisfying..check my title and you'll see what I mean. It is a very old and immortal Sicilian proverb. Ciao! Dr. Michael Lim The Travelling Gourmet
Rating:
Summary: Just A Terrific Movie
Review: I have little to add to what's already been written. By now, you should have a good idea of the plot and the cast and everything in between. May I just add that this is one terrific movie. It is well acted, well paced, and just a very interesting way to spend an hour and a half. It is one I will be adding to my collection to be viewed every so often and to share with friends.
Rating:
Summary: Dinner Rush is a very good movie
Review: I really enjoyed this film. The story and plot(if there really was one), although somewhat predicatble, was entertaining and had a very human touch. All the characters were beleivable and flawed. The setting of a NY restaurant was a lot of fun. The film captured the infalted egos and NY arrogance and self centeredness of the city and its inhabitants. Good to see Jim Corbett of Northern Exposure fame on the screen again. Nice flip flop at the end on that character. Mark Margolis and Bernstein are classic New Yorkers! What fun!! Well worth the money... Much better than anything else from the "major" studios. See it!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Story
Review: I saw this film in the theater while over seas. I couldn't wait for the DVD. I do not believe this film was released in the US and cannot imagine why. Interesting from the start. I had to have this in my library.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty Good film
Review: I saw this film recently&it was pretty good. it dealt with Resteraunt cliches&also Mob related cliches within the film. Danny Aiello was cool through the whole film. it had a real intimate setting&feel yet despite so many mini little sub plots going on around it. Bob Giraldi did a good job. I think a few things could have been flipped a bit to make this film a bit more stronger,but it was a pretty good film nevertheless.
Rating:
Summary: The must see restaurant movie of the year!
Review: I saw this movie for the first time on a trans-Atlantic flight. I thought it was such a great movie that I actually watched it twice in a row. Dinner Rush is a juxtaposition of hip yuppies and tough gangsters earning their way into the New York restaurant scene. The movie gives an excellent perspective of the chaos that is involved in one night's work at a trendy restaurant. The movie provides vivid and realistic characters and is accompanied with a wonderful score. I truly am excited that it finally came out on DVD so I can watch it at home with my girlfriend and show her what a great movie it is since trying to explain it really doesn't do it any justice.
Rating:
Summary: An order of Sausage and Peppers......per favore
Review: I've spent the bulk of my adult life in the food business as a student in cooking school, a chef, in restaurant operations and in food procurement. So I can attest to the accuracy of the crazy, loud cacaphonous milieu that serves, not just as a back drop, but as an active character in Bob Giraldi's "Dinner Rush." Giraldi himself is the owner of the restaurant where this movie was filmed. So he knows of what he speaks. The story itself involves bookmaking, addiction to gambling, murder, art, old style cooking versus nouvelle, the chef as star and old courtly values vs new cavalier ones to name a few things. Danny Aiello is the owner, Louis Cropa his son the chef, Udo (Edoardo Ballerino) at a bustling, newly busy restaurant in Tribeca. Udo has recently "saved" the restaurant from extinction and red sauce and meatballs with his new ideas and recipes...or has he? Aiello, with his raspy, quiet voice and his total command of the screen acts as the voice of reason and experience and it is obvious he longs for the old ways and the old times when his wife ran the restaurant and where he good get a plate of sausage and peppers. Stylistically, "Dinner Rush" is more like "The Godfather" than "Casino," in that, not only was the film shot in beautiful earth tones in middle light (as was "The Godfather") but, the values put forth are more like those of the 40's and 50's than those of the the year 2001. Giraldi seems to be saying: let's return to a time when life was more clear-cut and simple and Italian food meant red gravy and meatballs and you could tell the bad guys by the shoulder holsters,stick pins and two-toned spectator shoes. Danny Aiello dominates the movie but Edoardo Ballerini, Vivian Wu (Nicole) and Kirk Acevedo (Duncan....late of HBO's "Oz") definitely make good impressions. "Dinner Rush" is a call for reason, re-evaluation and a reinstatement of old ways and values....and hey this makes more sense to me every day.
Rating:
Summary: great movie!
Review: Initially, when I heard about this movie, it really didn't interest me. A mobster movie that takes place in a restaurant? Every mobster movie does that for at least five minutes and then goes on to the more interesting aspects of mob life. Yeah, Italian mobsters eat in Italian restaurants, but that's just where they eat. If I wanted to see food or people eat, I'd just watch the food network. So, yeah, this movie didn't interest me at first, but it's really quite good! I'm so glad I saw it! The pace of the movie is so fast, and yet it flows so naturally. I didn't expect the cool ending, mostly because the story just kept developing and developing and it seemed like the night would just go on forever (in a good way). It's like a really long episode of Cheers but in a fancy New York restaurant with mobsters and hipsters. All of the characters are fascinating and charismatic. It's a very rewarding movie definately worth seeing!
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