I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

(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!

There's something about this film that made me fall in love with it from the moment I gazed at its delicious looking poster and up until the very last frame. It's a mob film with a few drops of revenge and an overdose of family relationships – but much more important – it's a film about a gourmet Italian restaurant, and about people who love to dream, talk, eat and kill over its ingredients. Someone in Dinner Rush's production unit sure knows his way around the kitchen, and director Bob Giraldi delivers this passion and emotion throughout the happenings of a long, cold lonely night at this New York placed restaurant. John Corbett, previously known from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Sex and the City fame delivers a dark and disturbing performance that winds up well on this tasty home-made thriller. Bon appetite!

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!

"Dinner Rush" will inevitably be compared to "Big Night," and other food preparation/restaurant movies, but I think it holds its own as a delicious slice of one night of New York life. As one character plotzes: "When did eating out become theater?" The wonderful, winsome multi-ethnic ensemble of mostly New York actors --many born in Brooklyn according to the IMDb--who have done a lot of TV work are clearly enjoying making a movie as a coordinated team. Danny Aiello has his best, and somewhat similar, role since "City Hall." Many of the references may go over the heads of those West of the Hudson or East of the East River, whether to Tribeca (as a newly trendy neighborhood) or Danny Meyer (restaurant entrepreneur). Or even the digs at Queens as the home of mobsters, which were greeted by silence by the Queens audience I saw it with.The upstairs/downstairs of the kitchen scrambles vs. the dining pleasures and everyone's personal spices are lots of fun. The actors playing obnoxious customers, like Sandra Bernhard, do so with relish but not overplayed.Keep your palate clear by not looking at the ad campaign or reading the reviews, as I think they give the plot away and I was totally surprised by the ending, er, the dessert.(originally written 9/29/2001)