BIG NIGHT
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1996 Scott Renshaw
(Samuel Goldwyn/Rysher) Starring: Stanley Tucci, Tony Shalhoub, Ian Holm, Minnie Driver, Isabella Rossellini. Screenplay: Stanley Tucci, Joseph Tropiano. Producer: Jonathan Filley. Director: Stanley Tucci, Campbell Scott. Running Time: 108 minutes. MPAA Rating: R (profanity) Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
It probably says as much about me as it does about BIG NIGHT that I consider it a remarkably insightful film about the state of contemporary film-making. Yes, BIG NIGHT is about food, and it is about the relationship between two brothers, and it is about what it means to participate in the American dream as well. However, I think BIG NIGHT is something particularly special for anyone who loves movies because of what they can be. It is a warm, engaging and extremely funny film which manages not simply to describe the battle between art and commerce, but to win it on behalf of the former.
BIG NIGHT takes place in a Jersey shore town of the 1950s, where brothers Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and Secondo Pilaggi (Stanley Tucci) run an Italian restaurant called the Paradise. Business is anything but heavenly, though, as master chef Primo's insistence upon creating daring traditional cuisine has not created the booming clientele enjoyed by the Americanized bistro across the street, run by Pascal (Ian Holm). Two years of poor receipts have placed the Paradise on the brink of foreclosure, but Pascal offers Primo a last chance. Pascal suggests inviting band leader Louie Prima, a personal friend, to dine at the Paradise and create a media event which will boost business. With nothing to lose, Primo and Secondo throw everything they have left into one big night, a sumptuous dinner which will either make them or break them.
Stanley Tucci co-wrote (with his cousin Joseph Tropiano) and co-directed with actor Campbell Scott) BIG NIGHT in addition to starring in it, and he has created one of the year's most delightful character studies. His own character of Secondo is the film's central figure, but all three main characters are superbly written and acted. Tony Shalhoub (TV's "Wings") is hilarious as Primo, whose passion for his cooking leads to fits of pique over the "Philistines" who cannot appreciate his work, but who has difficulty showing that passion to the florist (Allison Janney) he secretly pines for. Ian Holm has a tasty, showy role as the unapologetically assimilated Pascal, who runs his restaurant like a circus; Holm's accent is hit-and-miss, but his truly unprintable favorite epithet for Secondo actually gets funnier every time he uses it. Between them is Secondo, with Tucci doing solid, subtle work as an immigrant trying to navigate the treacherous course between tradition and assimilation without committing fully to either one, but tending towards his vision of the American dream. His mockery of Primo's more broken English begins as good-natured, but gradually it becomes indicative of Secondo's frustration with his brother's steadfast refusal to compromise.
It is this conflict which makes BIG NIGHT such a potent metaphor for cinema in the 1990s. Primo is an artist unwilling to compromise even if it means alienating potential customers; Pascal is the capitalist who believes that "if a guy wants a steak, you give him a steak." Secondo wants to have it both ways, to be the artist and the capitalist, but when push comes to shove he finds himself more willing to compromise on the art. What BIG NIGHT ultimately argues is that somewhere along the line, you have to choose between doing the work you know will make you proud and doing the work you know will make you rich. There is room for both, Tucci suggests, but the greatest satisfaction comes from people loving the best you had to give them.
But whether you see BIG NIGHT as a simple tale of brotherly conflict and fine dining or as a meditation on art as a consumer product, you should see BIG NIGHT, because film-making simply doesn't get much more satisfying. Tucci, Scott and company have put together a banquet of finely drawn characters, smart dialogue and assured direction, culminating in an elaborate meal which might inspire you to the same conclusion which leads one character to utter one of the year's best punch lines. It also ends with a wordless single take in which resolution is achieved with such grace, simplicity and emotion that you could find yourself smiling all the way out the door. Primo states his believe in one scene that great food is what "brings us closest to God," but that could be true of any true work of art. With BIG NIGHT, Stanley Tucci and a host of gifted contributors have served up a small piece of Paradise.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 bella nottes: 10.
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