''Restaurant'' is a 1998 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

starring

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...

Elise Neal Elise Demetria Neal (born March 14, 1966) is an American actress. Her big break came with three 1997 films, appearing in ''Rosewood'', '' Money Talks'' and ''Scream 2''. From 1998 to 2002, Neal starred as Yvonne Hughley in the ABC/UPN sitcom ' ...

David Moscow David Raphael Moscow (born November 14, 1974) is an American actor, producer and activist. He is best known for his role as the young Josh Baskin in the 1988 film ''Big (film), Big'' and as David in the 1992 musical film ''Newsies.'' Career In ...

and

Simon Baker Simon Lucas Baker (born 30 July 1969) is an Australian actor in television and film, as well as a director. He is known for his lead roles in the CBS television series ''The Mentalist'' as Patrick Jane and ''The Guardian'' as Nicholas Fallin a ...

. Written by Tom Cudworth and directed by

Eric Bross Eric Bross is an American film director. He has directed numerous films since 1995. He won the Directors Guild of America's Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs for ''The Boy Who Cried Werewolf'' (2010) on Nickelodeo ...

, ''Restaurant'' was the follow-up to this writing–directing duo's first film, ''TenBenny'', which also starred Adrien Brody. ''Restaurant'' premiered at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival on April 17, 1998, and garnered Adrien Brody an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

nomination for Best Male Lead. Set in

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

, ''Restaurant'' is a

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

about young waiters with big dreams, but few chances to actually succeed.

Plot

A Hoboken restaurant within sight of

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Uni ...

and all of its promise is staffed with many aspiring artists of different races, who generally get along well. Chris Calloway, the bartender, is about to mount his first play, based on the fallout of a failed relationship. He strikes up a new relationship with the latest addition to the staff, a singer named Jeanine. The reemergence of his previous girlfriend Leslie, as well as the casting of Kenny, the man whom she cheated on Chris with, along with increasing racial aggression between certain employees, begins to take a toll on Chris.

Cast

Production

Director Bross and writer Cudworth had first met while working at the same Montclair, NJ restaurant, and had long thought about making a film in such a setting. Cudworth had also been involved with an African-American woman for a long time, inspiring the main storyline. The film was shot in 28 days in New Jersey and New York. The workplace scenes were shot in an actual Hoboken restaurant, which had just been sold and renovated. After shooting, the owners initially kept the name it was given in the film, J.T. McClure's. However, it is now known as the Madison Bar & Grill. Lauryn Hill was originally cast as the love interest and singer Jeanine. However, when she became pregnant, she was recast as the former girlfriend Leslie.

Awards and nominations

Atlantic City Film Festival *1999: Won, "Best Full Feature Drama"

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with Poly(methyl m ...

*2001: Nominated, "Best Male Lead" - ''Adrien Brody''

Soundtrack

Tracklist # True Fortune "Paradise" 2:55 # Cap-One "Ladies & Willies" 4:37 # Evil Minds "All Mine" feat.

Lord Tariq Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz were an American hip hop duo, composed of rappers Sean "Lord Tariq" Hamilton and Peter "Peter Gunz" Pankey, from The Bronx, New York. They are best known for their 1997 single "Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)", which reached th ...

3:57 # Rawcotiks "Place Ya Bets" 3:30 #

N'Dea Davenport N'Dea Davenport (born September 22, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and producer. She was the lead vocalist in the UK acid jazz band the Brand New Heavies and made pioneering contributions to the genre of acid jazz. Career Her ...

"No Never Again" 3:39 # Magic Juan "Piece Of Cake" 3:59 # Infinite "The Game Don't End" 3:34 #

Shabaam Sahdeeq Marcus Vialva (born January 13, 1974), better known by his stage name Shabaam Sahdeeq, is an alternative hip hop artist from Brooklyn, New York. He first reached fame with Rawkus Records and was featured alongside artists including Busta Rhymes, ...

"Are You Ready" 3:49 # Rated Raw "From The Heart" 3:12 # Susan Garcia "In My Moment" feat. Magic Juan, Malik 3:44 # Old World Disorder "3 6 5" feat.

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

4:39 # Truck "Who Am I?" 4:30 # Adrien 'A. Ranger' Brody "This Ain't A Movie" feat. Rawcotiks 4:36

References

External links

* * {{Eric Bross 1998 films Films set in New Jersey Films shot in New Jersey Hoboken, New Jersey American independent films 1998 drama films 1990s English-language films Films about interracial romance Films directed by Eric Bross Films scored by Theodore Shapiro 1998 independent films Films set in restaurants 1990s American films