Big Night

1996 Directed by Stanley Tucci, Campbell Scott

In love and life, one big night can change everything.

Primo & Secondo, two immigrant brothers, pin their hopes on a banquet honoring Louis Prima to save their struggling restaurant.

Marc Anthony Tony Shalhoub Stanley Tucci Larry Block Caroline Aaron Andre Belgrader Minnie Driver Peter McRobbie Isabella Rossellini Liev Schreiber Pasquale Cajano Christine Tucci Gene Canfield Ian Holm Allison Janney Peter Appel Jack O'Connell Campbell Scott Robert W. Castle Susan Floyd Dina Spybey-Waters Seth Jones

Alternative Titles

빅 나이트, A Grande Noite

drama comedy

107 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by DirkH ★★★★ 9

That final scene....
Everything that went before it, the bonds of family, brotherly affection, love, all captured in the simple act of frying an egg.
Just magical.
Review by fran hoepfner ★★★★½ 2

that last scene, mamma mia!
Review by Jonathan White ★★★★ 9

I love Letterboxd
Yesterday, when reading another member’s great observations of Mostly Martha, a chef centric film I quite enjoyed, I noticed he ended with the observation that while good, it wasn’t quite the culinary classic Tampopo, Babette’s Feast ( both of which I consider masterpieces ), Big Night, and Like Water for Chocolate were. I commented on his review that I’ll have to see the latter two, as I loved the former two. I mentioned this to Lise, and she exclaimed ‘you haven’t seen Big Night?!!’ Of course, she had already collected it, and within minutes it was lighting up the screen.
I loved Big Night
Like my beloved Babette’s Feast, Big Night steers towards a comestible climax, but…
Review by Daniel Gallegos ★★★★½ 1

RataTucci
Review by Sally Jane Black 3

Charmingly anti-climatic, beautifully filmed food porn, and Minnie Driver deserves better.
Review by sophie b ★★★★ 3

i want stanley tucci to make me scrambled eggs
Review by chavel ★★★★ 2

People eat with a lot of gusto in Big Night, this being one of those food movies where the camera angles appropriately capture the food in all its zest. Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott co-directed this fiction about two Italian brothers who run an authentic Italian restaurant in 1950’s New Jersey at a time when no locals appreciate, uh, great food. They can make a timpano, they can make a seafood risotto where the shrimp and scallop are so blended in they are invisible. Secondo and Primo, the brothers with an American dream, are so knee deep in perfect cooking they have failed to see right away that perfectionism is sinking their business.
With simpatico, Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub…
Review by Milo Paulus ★★★★½ 7

A truly remarkable film with tremendous work by all actors involved, and an insightful script about friendship, love, passion, cultural clash, adaptability and ambition, all dressed up as this wonderful feast of a film that gets better and better with every passing minute, until it reaches an unexpected but brilliant climax.
Big Night is without question one of the most underrated / underappreciated / under-seen films I've probably watched, ever? With only a scant amount of ratings on IMDb, and a handful of the people I follow who have seen it, this is a clear example of a film that deserves more love. I stumbled on it totally by accident. I had never heard of this film before a couple…
Review by Alyssa Heflin ★★★★ 1

Kept gasping "oh my god" at the food, at Minnie Driver, at Tony Shalhoub's arms, at how cute Alison Janney is, just a real bevy of riches.
Review by Benjamin ★★★★ 1

As far as I’m concerned this is the live action Mario movie
Review by Waqar ★★★★★

I love warm affectionate films centered around brotherhood and love.
I love films about food and films that star Minnie Driver.
I also love good music and witty dialogue.
This film has all of those things.
This film is absolutely perfect.
Review by Steve G 🐝 ★★★★ 6

I think I am going to have review the way I watch films about food in future.
To stave off feelings of utter starvation and to stop me from pausing the film every few minutes to look up recipes online, I'm going to stuff my face beforehand and then maybe my bloated state will make for a less interrupted viewing. Because this was practically exactly the same experience I had when I recently watched Chef too.
I literally paused this film for about 20 minutes so I could look at recipes and pictures of timpano. And I've got no chance of ever making that or dragging the kids to somewhere around here that might do that dish, so it was…

Recent reviews

Review by Eth dddddiaaaa ★★★★½

another fine example of stanley tucci and tony shaloub wrestling. loved it
Review by David Svien

That’s a tasty movie!
A saucy mix of comedy, familial fighting, and decadent food, this elegant treat came roaring out of Sundance, perfect to cleanse the palate after too many action flicks.
Centering on a pair of Italian brothers, living, working (and sparring with each other) in ’50s New Jersey, it was co-directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott.
Tucci is the front of the house at his family’s restaurant, while Tony Shalhoub, pre-Monk, rules the kitchen with a fiery intensity.
Sparks fly as the duo clash, but even in their fiercest fights, love rules in a touching tale.
Review by Mikey ★★★★

Fucking Guy!
Review by maddy_burgess ★★★★

Charming beyond belief, Big Night is witty, loveable and above all effortlessly entertaining.
That final moment when Secondo makes and eats an omelette in complete silence, I mean, I don’t think I have ever been more content watching any scene.
Also suitable this film bein about food and all, ‘cause Stanley Tucci be lookin like a SNACK
Review by BladoRunnor ★★★★½

Una belleza
Review by Bárbara Matos ★★★★

A última cena é um cafuné na alma.
Review by nile4life ★★★★

This is how movies should be, the entering into an agreement where you have to pay complete attention for 1.5+ hours and the filmmakers bring you into a fully constructed world. This movie has it all, weird family dynamics, immigrant tales, marvelous period design, peephole voyeurism into ways of living you didn't know existed. For a comedy, it's not even that funny, it's just funny in the way life is supposedly funny. This movie was totally worth the time spend making it and I look forward to seeing it again.
Review by Melissa Mendes ★★★★★

"Sometimes spaghetti likes to be alone."
An all-timer.
Next time I watch this I'm gonna have a nice pasta for dinner instead of tater tots and frozen waffles.
Review by andy ★★½

A pleasant but very thinly written movie. A classic Bechdel-test fail: there are three women in the film, and when they talk—which happens one (1) time—it’s exclusively about a man. There are of course many great films that fail the Bechdel, but this isn’t one of them. The final scene is good, not great; don’t understand the hubbub.
Review by Old Kath ★★★★

Yes, my friend Louis Prima.
Review by SamKillian ★★★★★

Hot and hearty tale about two Italians learning some very American lessons. Took about an hour to really heat up but couldn’t stop smiling once it did, even far beyond the point at which I reasonably should have stopped smiling. Whoever had the idea of casting sexy people in a film is a genius!

Also no film I’ve watched in lockdown has made me more buzzed for a “big night” or for travelling to another country. At the very start there’s a shot of Tucci opening a front door and stepping into the sun and I felt a blast of heat on my body. Sexy!
Review by tarpley ★★★★

Good for J.Lo