Amazon.com

Critics tripped all over their big feet to praise Big Night, and in doing so performed a grave disservice to this fine little film. They fooled audiences into believing it was a "super movie" instead of a home movie buoyed by friends and family. Consequently, many viewers were disappointed. Big Night is an intimate look at the immigrant struggle to attain the American Dream, set in New Jersey in the 1950s. Its disproportionate success gave co-directors Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott, who also star in the picture, the green light to follow up with a smug, unsuccessful second venture called The Imposters. Tucci wrote Big Night with his cousin Joseph Tropiano, and they based the story on the experience of growing up in a large, proud Italian family. The brothers in Big Night--chef Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and businessman Secondo (Tucci)--have come to New Jersey to open a bistro named The Paradise that serves the finest in traditional, authentic Italian cuisine. Their every move is foiled by rival restaurant Pascal's, which serves mile-high servings of spaghetti and meatballs and flasks of bad Chianti at exorbitant prices.Primo is disgusted by the fact that Americans want cheap pasta instead of risotto, so Secondo hatches a plan to boost business: rumor has it bandleader Louis Prima is travelling through and will dine at The Paradise that very night.Secondo gambles to bring the finest dinner ever cooked--at the risk of losing his shirt and being reduced to exile to the old country with his tail between his legs. Big Night is a film that will easily invite comparisons to other "food" fare like Babette's Feast and Eat Drink Man Woman but, though Tucci insists his story is "about the struggle between art and commerce and the risk of staying true to yourself," the media refused to let it stay a small, comparative work. The movie, and the buzz around it, became a parable for the essence of the film itself: art vs. commerce. --Paula Nechak ... Read more

Reviews (62)

People should-a come just-a for the food...
Primo (Tony Shaloub) is a traditionalist, a perfectionist, an artist; he is a chef without compromise. His younger brother, Secondo (Stanley Tucci), will compromise, bend, wheel and deal; he is a desperate businessman who cares about food, but is realistic. Unfortunately, their little restaurant is way, way ahead of its time. When their 1950s customers go out for Italian food, they want red-checked tablecloths and lotsa spaghetti and meatballs, not risotto and delicate wine. How can their restaurant stay in business? It can't, but they try to save it with an all-out feast for a famous Italian jazzman. If you're the least bit hungry when you watch this film, you've got trouble, because food has never looked this good. It's a quiet, slow movie, but you get to know Primo and Secondo completely, and you find yourself wishing their restaurant was in your neighborhood so you could go there and give them all your money.

What a delight - but eat before you watch it
Eat before you watch this movie; otherwise, you'll end up painfully hungry and go stuff yourself with every bit of Italian food you can lay your hands on.

This is a simple story of two brothers struggling to fulfill their dreams - one to be a "success" in America; the other to be a great Italian chef.

Realizing the dreams of the first brother hinges on the success of one important meal depends on the skill of the second - and forces outside their control.

Tucci, Shaloub, Holm and company all give wonderful performances. There's no showing off by the many successful actors who are in this movie - they all just do a great job.

The climax of the movie is the banquet scene, and it's going to make you hungry and want to get up and dance.

The final scene which lasts for several minutes with the only dialog being one line - "are you hungry" - wraps up the movie nicely, and shows what a good director and actors can do when both understand the power of subtlety.

This is one fun movie - lots of laughs, amazing food, and a great soundtrack.

Wonderful "Little Film" -- So-So DVD
Stanley Tucci, as actor, co-writer, and co-director (with Campbell Scott, who also plays a pitch-perfect small part as a car salesman), deserves a great deal of the credit for this small, intimate, delightful film. But the film resonates because it got so many of the little touches right, from the ensemble cast to the soundtrack to the editing to the cinematography. So there is a lot of credit to go around.

Tucci plays Secondo, the aptly named younger of two Italian brothers who have emigrated to New Jersey from the Old Country. Secondo is the entrepreneur, the guy who wants the big Cadillac. Primo (Tony Shahloub), the older brother, is the magician of a chef. Primo is so good, in fact, that his culinary masterpieces go over the heads of the good folks of New Jersey. When contemplating a wonderful seafood risotto, a diner complains that she can't see the seafood, and that her desired side of spaghetti doesn't come with meatballs (inspiring the wonderful line, "Sometimes spaghetti wants to be alone").

Primo bemoans the fact that he is serving food to Philistines, but the sad fact is that most of the Philistines are eating across the street at Pascal's restaurant. Pascal, played with great zest by Ian Holm, knows that you have to give the customer what he wants -- even if it is culinary sacrilege. The contrasts between the restaurants, from the colors to the lighting to the clientele, could not be more staggering!

Secondo laments to Pascal of his financial woes, but refuses Pascal's (repeated) offer to come work for him. Pascal, being a big-hearted guy, tells Secondo to pull of a "big night," with no holds barred. Pascal will invite his good friend, Louis Prima, who will come, eat, and love Secondo's restaurant. Then, the people will come.

So the story builds to the big night (a side plot regarding Secondo's tortured love life notwithstanding), which is where the movie really takes off.

Organizing the banquet scene into courses, "Big Night" revels in the wonders that can only be brought about by great cooking. The cast has a difficult task -- how do you emote rapture without going over the top? The ensemble cast, which includes Isabella Rosselini, Minnie Driver, and Allison Janney, nails this task just right. The cooking scenes are also hectic and impressive without going over the top, too.

Following the big night, many truths are revealed, perhaps because it is impossible to deceive after having such a wondrous experience. If this film doesn't move you, or inspire you to get thee hence to an Italian restaurant, you have no heart!

But again, the heart of the movie is its dedication to the small touches. From Primo using his cup to tamp down his espresso grounds to the making of a simple omelet, this movie gets it all just right.

The DVD does not have much to offer as far as extras go. What it does have is one heck of little film.

A bland meal
I've seen BIG NIGHT described as "one of the great food movies". Let me clarify something here. The adjective "great" modifies "food", but not "movies".

Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and Secondo (Stanley Tucci) are Italian immigrant brothers who've opened the Paradise restaurant in an unidentified surfside town on the Eastern seaboard sometime in the 1950s. The elder Primo is a superlative chef, and both he and Secondo know it. But, Primo cooks to his desires and not the customers'. So, two years into the venture, the brothers are almost broke, the bank is about to repossess, and Secondo, the one with the business sense, is driven to despairing distraction.

Down the street is the competing Italian restaurant owned by Pascal (Ian Holm). While he admires Primo's talent, Pascal gives his patrons what they want, so his eatery is enormously successful. To help the boys out, Pascal arranges to have his friend, the Italian-American singer Louis Prima, come to the Paradise with his band for dinner. Secondo spends virtually the last of their savings preparing for the BIG NIGHT with the expectation that the event and its attendant publicity will yank them back from the brink of insolvency. In the meantime, he avoids emotional commitment to his girlfriend Phyllis (Minnie Driver) while having an affair with Gabriella (Isabella Rossellini), Pascal's mistress. After all, what are pals for?

The best bits of this film are the too infrequent cooking sequences. But the best ends there. BIG NIGHT doesn't know whether to be a drama or comedy, and succeeds at neither. The dialogue is flat and uninspired throughout, and the plot goes nowhere of interest. My wife, perhaps a dollop more impressed than I was, called the film a "character study". But no persona in this otherwise dull movie is engaging, and, indeed, I found Pascal's ebullient crassness positively annoying. About the only other good thing I can say about BIG NIGHT is that it uses as props some well-preserved, large tail-finned, period Cadillacs that will perhaps stimulate vintage car buffs.

Better films to rent that revolve around food preparation are MOSTLY MARTHA (2001) and EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN (1994). These, at least, portray characters to care about.

The American cinema needs more BIG NIGHTS!
The film "Big Night" is not a small little picture that was over-hyped by critics. The only person who would be disappointed in this film would be some 15-year old kid that was looking for some kind of "2 Fast 2 Furious" crap. Over all the Amazon editorial staff does a fine job of presenting the plot or scope of a film, book, or CD. In the case of "Big Night" I am left to wonder if the reviewer watched the film or just read the back of the DVD case. Her opinions are fine but in the review itself she wrongly guides the reader as to both the plot and the outcome of the movie- Two things that should never be done. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Campbell Scott directs and stars in this not-quite-modern-dress version of Hamlet. A production can easily lose itself in attempting such a notorious great work of literature, but this one largely keeps its head. The film starts with a few silent establishing scenes--a nice touch when one already knows the characters. Some well-thought-out stage business also enhances the play, such as Gertrude frolicking with Claudius just outside an open window while Hamlet delivers his first soliloquy. Occasionally cinematic concerns seem to get in the way--the production appears so concerned with making the old King Hamlet's ghost scary that it forgets to make him ominous--and every now and then Scott falls into the self-indulgent traps that directors who cast themselves as Hamlet tend to. Overall, however, the performances are quite good. Blair Brown gives Gertrude more depth and intelligence than most actresses, and Lisa Gay Hamilton fights her way through some difficult mad-scene direction to give a fine performance as Ophelia. Roger Guenveur Smith does excellent work as Laertes--he is thoroughly comfortable with Elizabethan English and gives a lovely, understated performance. The DVD includes The Making of Hamlet. --Ali Davis ... Read more

Reviews (12)

BEST ADAPTATION...
No one is a bigger Kenneth Brangah fan than I am, but this version of Hamlet (which aired on the Odyssey channel a year ago) far surpasses his grandiose attempt, and is simply the best I have seen, better than Oliver and Gibson and all those others (but still watch 'Discovering Hamlet' if you have a chance...great behind the scenes of a young Kenneth's stage version). But back to this film....it is a wonderful adaptation of the greatest play about modern man ever written, a good solid cutting which, unlike Kenneth's film version, keeps the story moving along and doesn't drag out every line which may have been necessary for the story to be told properly in Shakespeare's time, but isn't as neccessary for the film world of today. But the cutting still keeps everything important and wonderful about the play. Campbell Scott is PERFECT as Hamlet; the makers of this film did not try too hard to update it, but they certainly showed how even more relevant Hamlet is today as the complete and utter picture of modern man. The other actors are great; the actress who played Ophelia (a black woman--another great twist and angle to Ophelia and Hamlet's complex relationship)is brilliant in the scenes when she goes crazy...with the lewd and disturbing songs Shakespeare wrote, she really takes things to another level. The three most memorable scenes....the scene that Hamlet sees his father's ghost (the ghost comes out of the sand with some great special effects); a wonderful staging of the scene where Ophelia helps her father spy on Hamlet; and a stunning adaptation of Hamlet's famous monologue. Such a wonderful version. So worth the extra money if you really want to own a fantastic version of Hamlet. Especially great for teachers who want their English/drama classes how revolutionary Shakespeare really was. And hey! It was on the Odyssey channel so it's completely school appropriate...

Disappointing
Wait for the Kenneth Branaugh version of Hamlet. Although the Campbell Scott version has its good moments, generally it lacks energy. The sword play is so reserved that it gives the impression that the actors didn't want to hurt each other. If you're really interested in buying this version of Hamlet, borrow it from the library first. You may find my copy there soon.

a successful updated Hamlet
Updated to a late 19th century era, this Hallmark Hall of Fame TV production often succeeds where others have failed. It keeps the language of old, although it is spoken unpretentiously with American accents, and the cadence has a flatness to it that takes getting used to. The racially mixed all-American cast in on the whole good, with only a few weak links.
It's filmed in and around an elegant Long Island, N.Y. manor house, and the soundtrack by Gary DeMichele is effective, using mostly solo piano, and occasionally some percussion instruments and horn, and manages to sound medieval and modern almost simultaneously. The piercing sound that accompanies the ghostly image of Hamlet's father is a little loud for my liking and sensitive ears, but a similar sound is often heard by people who are about to faint, so perhaps it is appropriate.

Campbell Scott, who also co-directed with Eric Simonson, gives a bravura, fascinating performance as Hamlet, and it has subtleties that make his Dane interesting for several viewings. John Benjamin Hickey as Horatio is also impressive, Jamey Sheridan makes an excellent calculating, smooth Claudius, Blair Brown a believable Gertrude, and Lisa Gay Hamilton is a lovely Ophelia.
Though my first choice for Hamlet on film is the Gibson/Zeffirelli version, followed closely by the beautiful Olivier one, this is surprising and innovative without leaving the spirit of the play behind, and definitely worth watching for anyone who appreciates this glorious work, and my favorite of all of Shakespeare's plays.
It's one of the better versions available, and total running time is 3 hours.

very disappointing
Ok, first off, what in the world is up with the bongos and other crappy background music? It just doesn't fit in with the Shakespearian play at all. I can understand perhaps using a little rock music if you want a bit of a modern twist, but the slow jazz music and cheap-sounding piano really downplay all the emotional scenes. The movie wasn't affecting at all. And some of the acting was really crappy. I couldn't feel any sparks between Hamlet and Ophelia and the last scene was so anti-climatic. The swordfight was made too light of a matter - it just seemed as though they were just practicing or entertaining the court. This was the first time I ever saw Hamlet acted out (I had to watch this for a class) and I really like the play, so I was highly disappointed. I swear, you could find more entertainment in just reading the orginal Shakepeare script than watching this.

I'm choosy about my Hamlets...
...and I choose this one. I'm another "Hamlet collector." When a friend brought this to me from a yard sale, I read the blurb & thought "Well, have you ever seen a bad Hamlet?" I sat down to watch, & was soon entranced by the production. At three hours, it's a good length - not overly gutted like so many 2 hour productions, not rump-numbing like some "eternity" uncut versions. The casting is imaginative and effective. Finally - a Gertrude old enough to be Hamlet's mother, & an Ophelia old enough not to be jail bait! The "to be or not to be" soliloquy is given a powerful set up - possibly the best I've ever seen. When I began to describe it to a friend, she stopped me because the intense emotion of the scene bothered her. Throughout there are wonderfully original (yet not disrupting) bits of stage action. Most carry an element of surprise, so I won't mention those here, but a striking example comes soon after Polonius' death, when Hamlet is pursued, surrounded and captured by various guards. One guard pulls out a long cord and lashes the Prince's hands together.
I do have one quibble, which is at odds with another review here. I really dislike the musical score. It reminded me of nothing so much as a saloon piano. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

You morons
I'm not even bothering to read the reviews where you morons spelled his flipping name wrong!!! Its DENIS- not Dennis.

Not typical Dennis Leary, not typical SciFi.
Dennis Leary is known for his high-speed humorous rants. I was hoping for THAT Dennis Leary.

Science Fiction is known for special effects. Effects... SOME kinda effects.

Neither was in this film.

Oh, sure, Dennis Leary proved he could do a 90 minute soliloquoy (Did I spell that right ? *grin*) with fair impact. Kudos, Dennis.

Beyond that, though, I can't see what others are raving about. The plot-twist was unexpected, but I kept waiting for things that didn't come: more evidence of chemistry between the doctor and Dennis, and SOME evidence of special effects.

If you buy this DVD, be prepared for what it delivers: Good acting by one guy and his lesser-light costar, and a good plot twist at the end.
Other elements you'd expect-- action, high humor, high tension, SF effects, technology of the future-- are not evident. This is a no-action drama with a plot twist.

Dennis Leary was Great!!!
Actually this was well acted all around. But Dennis really proved himself here.
Better then his role in Lake Boat and I really liked that. I have both these films in my library now.
A word of caution to most of you. There is no action in this film. 80% of the film takes place in one room. But having said that, this is a really good film. That has a well written, interesting story, that is enhanced by the performances of the two leads.
The story revolves around Dennis's character who wakes up in very sterile hospital setting, not knowing why he is there, why he can't leave, where he is in time, and is his life really at risk.
Thanks Dennis another good film. For me I take your name in the cast as an indicator that I need to see the film.

Excellent movie
What a nice jewel in the dirt that i've found. Watching late night HBO television and "Final" comes on and simply put, blows me away. Excellent movie, I've always loved everything Denis Leary did but this i would say is some of his best work. Lots of thumbs up to Director/Writer/Producer. Strongly recommended.

I can't get it out of my head
It is low budget, and borderline "sci-fi". BUT, it's also got an incredible story, excellent acting and intangible qualities that may make you want to cry in the end. With that said, it's not a chick-flick either (it's just that, I think I'm in love with Hope Davis after seeing this). And Leary totally saved the movie from obscurity for me. He is cast perfectly for this role. I won't tell any details, the less you know the better. Not for everyone, but if you like drama, sci-fi, and don't mind a bit of a slow start, you'll be glad you saw this movie. I can't wait to watch it again. ... Read more