| Big Night | | Cast : | Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub | | Director : | Stanley Tucci, Campbell Scott | | Studio : | Columbia/Tristar Studios | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | September 20, 1996 | | DVD Released Date : | February 04, 2003 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 21, 2005 | | Summary | feast of the heart | Content
 | "Big Night" is more than just a film about food, it's about heart, brotherhood and the American Dream. Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and Secundo (Stanley Tucci) are Italian brothers struggling to make their small restaurant a success. Secondo (called "Seco" for short) is thankful to be in the United States. His English is strong and he sees America as the land of opportunity. His brother Primo is an artist with food - an amazing talent who is so passionate about food, he refers to the lackluster menu of the restaurant across the street as the "rape of cuisine." And he's not kidding when he says it, either.
Seco may have been born in Italy, but he's always been an American in his heart. He understands the culture and knows that you have to give Americans what they want. Primo is insulted by the reprobate palate of their backwards clientele and refuses to compromise.
Many plots intertwine... Seco's romance with Phyllis (Minnie Driver) contrasted with his affair with Gabriella (the stunningly gorgeous Isabella Rosellini), and the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads - the impending foreclosure of their restaurant.
Primo and Secondo have one last shot at success as an impending visit by Jazz performer Louis Prima promises to put their little piece of Italy on the map.
Ian Holm plays their nemesis, Pascal, a competing restaurateur who admires Primo's talents and has no qualms about ruining the lives of his fellow Italian-Americans in the spirit of not-so-friendly competition.
Everything hinges on the big night - where their friends and some of the local "who's who" muckety-mucks experience Primo's genius. One course after another and with sexual inuendos, those who are feasting moan in delight. As the dessert tray approaches, the bloated guests get ready to undo their pants to stuff themselves even more.
In the end, the big night is truly a big event, but just another night. The real story is the love of these two brothers. They drive each other crazy, but they love one another. Nothing ends up in a neat, tidy little bow in the end - just like real life, Primo and Seco have no idea what tomorrow may bring for them, but they will face it together.
As a DVD, this is pretty underwhelming. The menu looks like it was it was drawn by Stevie Wonder and other than a trailer and an option for subtitles, there are no features worth writing home about. I have a 7-year-old DVD player and still, the DVD looks great on my HDTV, even without progressive scan or up-converting.
I would have liked to have seen interviews with the cast and directors... but as a film, it was a delight to watch. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 10, 2005 | | Summary | Oh Mylanta | Content
| This was not what I expected, I love "food" movies like "Eat drink man woman", "Tortilla Soup", "Like Water for Chocolate",This movie was just a long boring trek through bad accents and poorly lit italian food, I realize that the food was supposed to be showcased here, but it didnt wet my appetite a bit, a can of chef boyardee looks more appetizing. I was glad the restaurant tanked, that louis prima didnt show up. The "big night" turned out to be a tiny blip of a movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 29, 2005 | | Summary | A Feast | Content
| Big Night, the story of immigrant brothers struggling to make it in America is a feast for its viewers. It is a small film, much of its action taking place in the small restaurant owned by the brothers. These brothers mount one last, big party in hopes to save their establishment. In the end, for one reason or another, everyone has turned away, leaving them with their biggest supporter, each other. This is not an action flick and not even a popcorn movie... But, for me, this film was a smorgasbord. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 01, 2005 | | Summary | Big Meal | Content
| "Big Night" is a compelling movie with good acting, great direction, a good plot...Wait a minute?!? What plot? That's the only problem with "Big Night"; the story doesn't seem to go anywhere. We find ourselves enjoying the company, starting to feel like regulars at the ristorante but eventually it hits us; What was the point of the movie? Well, some might say the point can be found in the movie's title. After all, it is actually a lot of fun to be present at the big party; even if the guest of honor didn't show. And how about that meal? Have you ever had a better one? Or, at least, have you ever seen a better one?
"Big Night" is a pleasant way to spend an evening. Just enjoy the cameraderie and the visual culinary delights and you will come away the better for it. I know I did. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 22, 2005 | | Summary | Food For the Soul and the Body | Content
| The meal isn't over till there's a satiated big beautiful woman laying on the table enjoying a cigarette like Bette Davis and Paul Henreid in "Now, Voyager." But life goes on, and someone has to pay the bill.
This movie is about how you pay that bill. Primo would pay it with money earned by his sweat and formidable talent; honestly. Secundo would not order what he could not afford, but he would ask the waiter about the lobster and the caviar to savor the idea of the best meal; realistically. Cometitor Pasqualle would continue entertaining his friends till one of them becomes so exhausted, that they pick up the bill so they can go home and sleep; he gets someone else to pay it. Big Night is about how you feed your body via the spiritual essence of living your life. The movie shows us the personification of idealism and perfection, realism and honesty, and deceit and manipulation. It shows us our own choices between what we want and what we have to do.
It is a peek of Atlas Shrugged that fits on film. Instead of the smoke, steam and clatter of industrialism, we have the smoke, steam and clatter of the kitchen--something we all recognize as the most basic way to nurture ourselves and those we love. We recognize that those we don't love must have their own kitchen, too.
The way we manage our kitchen is a reflection of what we really are. Pasqualle berates the help as he gives people what they want, even though he clearly knows that there is better to give them. Pasqualle himself tells us that to be a success, first you have to give "them" what they want, then someday you can give then what you want (to give them). He has sold out though, content with the security of meeting demand.
Primo and Secundo manage their kitchen earnestly, and want to succeed on their ability. Secundo struggles to keep the business afloat, lured by the security Pasqualle has created. He flirts with glamor, just as he carries on a physical affair with Pasqualle's wife and professes he wants marriage with his girlfriend. The affair is exciting, but his fiancee is consistent and loyal. Pasqualle's club is exciting, but the brothers want their resturaunt to be enjoyed without glitz and artiface. The real issue is that they don't have the time for the approach they want to use; just as our choices are constrained by time and resources.
Leonard Maltin said this movie is slow-paced. He's welcome to the short-order meals offered by casual dining. I prefer to dine less often at a real resturaunt where the food is hand made from scratch. Big Night is an irrestable orgy of food and good times, and the moral of the story is that there is an honest compromise between good times on someone else's dime and deprivation that would mean the death of the spirit. It is about being a good failure as well as defining for yourself what success really means.
This movie is not about the overdramatized "reality" referred to as gritty; it is about reality that really exists for real people who question themselves and are honest with themselves.
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