Chris (Adrien Brody), an aspiring playwright, pays the bills as a bartender at an upscale New York restaurant and pours his frustrations into his work. Jeanine (Elise Neal), an aspiring singer from a musical family, is the newest waitress on the staff. He's Italian American and she's African American, but the chemistry is there. All that stands between them is Chris's unresolved feelings for his ex (pop star Lauryn Hill in a cameo), the reverberations of his blue-collar father's dinner-table racism, and the unspoken and usually ignored but unavoidable issue of race. Eric Bross (Ten Benny, also with Brody) has a light touch with his ensemble cast--which also features Malcolm-Jamal Warner as a well-spoken law student and Jesse L. Martin of TV's Law and Order as a philosophical line cook--and the thoughtful script. The issues simmer below the surface of the individual dramas, romantic complications, and personal struggles with self-esteem and responsibility that buzz through the restaurant, finally boiling over in a raw but dramatically restrained finale. Much of the drama floats between clear-eyed honesty and hip glibness, but Bross and his cast anchor the drama in vivid, complicated characters who bring the film to life. Restaurant, which sat on the shelf before receiving a short theatrical run, is no Do The Right Thing, but in its own respectful way manages to cast a fresh look at race relations. --Sean Axmaker
(20 votes)
2.
Bross (TEN BENNY) has crafted an engaging film about early adulthood and the battle to successfully bridge life and art. The twenty-something employees of a Hoboken, New Jersey restaurant dream of having successful artistic careers, but in the meantime, they must struggle to pay the bills amidst the melodrama of real life relationship troubles. The film features extremely solid performances by the attractive young cast, most notably Brody, Neal, Moscow, and Hill.
(20 votes)
3.
Where Love Meets Ambition
A Hoboken eatery sets the stage for a group of twenty-something New York hopefuls, all looking for their big break into the theatre scene, waiting tables to make ends meet.
At the center is Christ (Adrien Brody), an aspiring playwright who breathes life into his characters by stealing form his past. When memories of love lost haunt his new relationship, his girlfriend Jeanine (Elise Neal) begins to have her own doubts. Now, Chris needs his friends to help him break with the past and get his life moving forward on his terms.
Fun, hectic and fast, like the restaurant they work in, their lives are rocketing in all directions at full speed. Try and keep up, just don't forget to tip.
(20 votes)
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