On Thursday, January 20, the multi-episode crime comedy "Restaurant by Concepts" was released on the PREMIER video service.
The director of the project was David Dadunashvili, for whom this series was his debut.
Previously, the cinematographer worked as an artist on the films The Defenders, Unforgiven and Coma.
The script was written by Hayk Asatryan ("The Damned Official", "Manyunya").
The action of the series revolves around three former prisoners - Shustroy (Vladimir Vdovichenkov), Kuvalda (Dmitry Dyuzhev), Koshchei (Vladimir Sychev) and Sprat (Ivan Kokorin).
They are plotting a massive bank robbery.
To this end, the heroes rent a catering point, from which they can dig to the storage.
In order not to attract attention, the bandits really open a restaurant in a prison style close to them.
In addition to the specific entourage, this restaurant is distinguished by the original menu (they serve "Balanda with salmon in Vladimir-Tsentralovski", "Butyrski steak with blood" and "Matrosskaya Tishina" signature salad with deaf-mute sea creatures) and rude service.
So, guests can be forced to change tables if the "waiter" mixed up orders, or simply kicked out.
The place suddenly becomes popular.
Then the heroes are faced with a choice - to complete what they started or forget about crime and come to grips with the restaurant business.
The authors of the series do not immediately immerse the viewer in the vicissitudes of the restaurant life of former prisoners. At first, the filmmakers hint that it will be fun later, and then they focus on the personal stories of the characters. In particular, they tell a drama from the past of Shustroy and highlight some details of Koshchei's life. Declared as a comedy, the series for a rather long period (considering less than 20 minutes of running time) is transformed into a melodrama.
At the same time, such episodes, invented, probably to better acquaint the audience with the characters and make them feel compassion, do not cope with their tasks.
The problems of Shustroy, to whom the main part of the first series is devoted, are rather banal and predictable, and the bandit himself is not too convincing and pretty.
Nimble assures that he has firmly decided to tie up with crime, and is trying to find a job.
But his determination ends approximately where it began: without a diploma, the hero is not taken as a loader, and he immediately agrees to a robbery.
About the rest of the robbers from the first series manage to learn even less.
Such a study of the characters, especially taking into account their type of activity, leaves almost no chance for sympathy from the viewer.
Shot from the series "Restaurant by Concepts"
© kinopoisk.ru
At first, the almost complete absence of the promised comedy can also disappoint.
However, judging by the words of the filmmakers, there was a place in the series for deep themes and transformations of the characters.
It remains to be hoped that everything conceived in the end will be revealed in a worthy way.
As Vladimir Vdovichenkov notes, "Restaurant by Concepts" is a series "still not about criminals, but about how people with a difficult fate and life's difficulties change, begin to believe in friendship, in love."
Dmitry Dyuzhev agrees with him, arguing that “behind the gags and light humor is a history of correction.”
Fortunately, the comedic element becomes more pronounced towards the middle of the second series.
The humor is built directly around the work of the characters in the restaurant.
Along with their manner of communication and service, which is unacceptable in any real establishment, the reaction of visitors and ordinary passers-by to such a specific place is amusing.
Guests regard it as very original, with delicious cuisine and "hardcore parties".
The owners are called “friendly guys” and “gentlemen” by the visitors.
A big advantage of the project was a strong cast.
Artists already familiar to the audience, including in criminal images, are organic here as well.
True, the exaggerated heroes of the "Restaurant by Concepts" at first do not fit well into the melodramatic beginning, but gradually everything falls into place.
Especially from the colorful bandit company, Kuvalda stands out.
The hero of Dyuzhev boasts not only the brightest and most explosive character, but also comical manners, as well as a memorable appearance.
Each appearance of the artist in the frame changes the mood of the scene and adds variety even to boring episodes.
Unfortunately, the key plot twists, the most interesting and intriguing, are far from original.
The idea of opening a restaurant for secret purposes and its unexpected popularity has already appeared in the South Korean film "Extreme Job".
There, however, the police rented a restaurant to keep an eye on a gang of drug dealers, and they cooked fried chicken.
The decision to dig into the bank vault, albeit less obvious, refers to the Spanish TV series "Paper House".
However, "Restaurant by Concepts" differs markedly both from these sensational predecessors and from other film productions in its bright style and general hooligan mood.
In addition, by the second series, the tape, which somehow coped with the protracted background, finally acquires the necessary dynamics and becomes overgrown with intriguing side stories.
All this gives hope for an exciting and spectacular sequel.