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Rating: - recommended
Dinner Rush is a jazzy and upbeat movie that covers the bustle and drama of a trendy Tribeca Italian restaurant from all sides, with the clientele, the wait staff, the kitchen, and the management all under the same roof but in separate worlds. Anyone who has worked in an upscale restaurant will probably find this an accurate representation of that experience, aside from the mafia theme, maybe. Most of the enjoyment comes from the interactions among the wide variety of characters, but the movie has a solid plot, is tightly edited, and the twist at the end is a good one.

The owner of Gigino's, Louis Cropa, is coping with the recent murder of his partner Enrico at the hands of two low-level mobsters from Queens. When the mobsters arrive at Gigino's one busy evening to forcibly offer their `partnership' to Louis, a revenge story unfolds together with sub-plots, including the rivalry of the head chef, Louis's son Udo, and the sous chef, the impulsive Duncan, in cuisine and in women, an artist waitress waiting on the table of a snobby gallery owner feting artists who are successful, a picky food critic unhappy with her table, and a bland gentleman hanging out at the bar, who turns out to be more than he seems. Each part of the restaurant has its own atmosphere, and the film shows well the contrast between the feverish work on the part of the chefs and the relaxation of the guests, how a true chef can never serve bad food, no matter how much he dislikes who will eat it, and the random difficulties that arise on a busy night (power outage, etc.).

The editing is great, as the film is engaging to the last minute, and never slackens. The film mostly takes place in the restaurant (or `eatery' as it is called) uninterruptedly over one evening, and the action consists mainly of guests talking to servers, servers talking to chefs, chefs talking to guests (as in one funny scene when a heavy customer marches into the kitchen to threaten a chef) but the characters are established so well and so quickly by the actors, that they seems like real people, and they have chemistry in every scene.

Another reviewer described the film as insubstantial but very, very tasty, like linguini in cream sauce, and that's a good assessment. Dinner Rush could be the pilot episode of a good television series. Still, it's entertaining and funny. What more do you want from a movie?

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