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Restaurant, 1998, 107 minutes, Not Rated
By Patricia Flowers
The characters featured in Eric Bross’ attention-grabbing film Restaurant
are not twentysomethings laboring in the intestines of Corporate America but are artists
chasing their dreams while working in a New Jersey restaurant. |
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Courtesy Eric Bross
Elise
Neal and Simon
Baker-Denny in Restaurant
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To Buy
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Restaurant revolves around Chris Calloway (Adrien
Brody), a bartender and aspiring playwright, and his loves and relationships with the
staff of an upscale eatery. Fresh out of an affair with Leslie (Lauryn Hill), Chris starts
a relationship with Jeanine (Elise Neal) that's dependent upon circumstance for its
survival. Chris' unwillingness to abandon the love he shared with Leslie and the
interracial factor, result in very few tension-free moments in Chris and Jeanine's
relationship.
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Not only does Restaurant address the complicated and unavoidable issues
surrounding interracial dating, it also tackles race relations in the workplace. Most of
the film's raw action occurs in the restaurant's kitchen where there’s no facade of
hierarchy or pretense. While the cooks know where they stand in the restaurant's rat race,
the highly frustrated Steven (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) loathes the fact that he’s stuck
taking orders instead of bartending. A tender muscle yanked every time Steven enters the
kitchen to place an order by the gang and Reggae, sardonically played by David Moscow.
“They don’t let no black bartender be in this place” taunts one cook.
However brutal and malevolent the cooks treat Steven, they tell him truths that are hidden
in the smiles and faint encouragement he receives from management. As the stress mounts
within the restaurant and in Chris and Jeanine's relationship, separation becomes
inevitable. When the pressure finally erupts, deep racial tension lurking beneath the most
affable is revealed.
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Although, the characters in Bross’ film are engaging,
the loss of one or two wouldn't have damaged the overall film. Because its main characters
endure enough drama and examine prevailing topics such as race, love, identity and
professional fulfillment, there's more than enough to keep you thinking. Overall, Restaurant
resonates with a message that isn't easily simplified.
M
July 1999 |
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