DINNER RUSH

Danny Aiello stars in DINNER RUSH, a dark comedy that mixes gangsters, the restaurant business and a wry sense of humor. Aiello plays Lou Cropa, the owner of an Italian restaurant in New York City who earns money on the side as a gambling bookie. When two Italian hoods from Queens try to take over the business, Lou advises his partner, Enrico, to let them have the bookie business, because they no longer need it. Enrico refuses, and they murder him while he’s walking his granddaughter.

Meanwhile, Lou’s son Udo, who’s the master nouveau chef at Lou’s restaurant, pesters his father about letting him have complete control of the restaurant. Lou doesn’t like the fact that his son has little respect for the traditions that make Italian cooking so popular, but he can see that his son is a very talented cook who’s bringing a lot of business into the restaurant. Unhappily for Lou, his favorite old-style Italian chef, a young man named Duncan, owes the two mobsters from Queens a hefty gambling debt. Moreover, he’s about to make another big bet with them to get out of debt, against Lou’s wishes. As the crowd shuffles into the restaurant for another night of wondrous dining, the two hoods from Queens also arrive to put the muscle on both Lou and Duncan.

DINNER RUSH is a very entertaining mix of characters and situations. It will make you leave the theater hungry for some Italian cuisine. The gangster plot is woven nicely into the stories about the restaurant business and about serving that evening’s customers, which include an annoying art gallery owner and a snotty food critic. As usual, Danny Aiello is marvelous as the patriarch. He exudes both confidence and warmth. Kirk Acevedo as Duncan and Edoardo Ballerini as Udo are also excellent as is Mark Margolis as the art gallery owner, Summer Phoenix as the smart, conscientious waitress who serves him and John Corbett as a Wall Street type who hangs out at the bar. This is a credit to both the director and the writers who worked on the script.

Despite the panache with which it’s put together, DINNER RUSH remains a light Italian dessert rather than a meaty banquet. It also has a romantic worldview and a strong pagan theme of revenge. Although he shows a moral concern for other people, Lou must wreak his revenge for the death of his partner, Enrico. There is also some violence and a sex scene in the movie where Duncan has a dalliance with the head waitress, Nicole, who has been involved with Udo but really loves Duncan, if only he could stop his gambling addiction. In the end, it’s up to Lou to make sure that everybody gets what they deserve. In that respect, he’s like a Mafia Godfather, the pseudo deity who hands out rewards and punishments to those inside and outside his “family.”