Rent Big Night (1996)

A Classic - Big Night review by Pam

This is one of my very favourite films, utterly beautiful from the very first kitchen scene to the last. It's about deep and abiding loves, for food and perfection, the love between two brothers with very different views. All of these are set against a prevailing tolerance for cheap and reasonable, things of no real content or value. I will continue to watch it for the rest of my days, especially when I need a big dose of beauty.

A classic food and relationship movie - Big Night review by AM

Terrific acting (and Ian Holm completely OTT) and great atmosphere with a lovely story. Very engaging film.

Timpano & Truce: Big Night, Big Heart - Big Night review by griggs

Forget fireworks; give me a stove, two brothers, and a dream. In a 1950s New Jersey seaside town, a tiny Italian restaurant fights to stay alive while the culture nudges it toward compromise. The hook is gloriously daft and deadly serious: Pascal, the swaggering rival, swears he can bring Louis Prima for a one-night feast that will save the place. What follows is a savoury argument about authenticity versus assimilation—the immigrant hustle measured out in ladles, loans, and pride.

Co-directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott (who also pops up on screen), it’s performed with the relaxed precision of a well-rehearsed service. Tucci’s Secondo juggles bills and charm; Tony Shalhoub’s Primo guards the sauce like a sacred text. Minnie Driver brings patience and spark, Isabella Rossellini breezes in like trouble on heels, and Ian Holm makes Pascal a deliciously oily showman. Around them, Allison Janney’s kind florist and Marc Anthony’s near-silent waiter give the room a steady pulse.

The set pieces are mouth-watering without foodie fuss. The timpano is both spectacle and prayer. Period pop and jazz keep the air loose. And that wordless breakfast at dawn—a simple omelette, a truce—tastes like forgiveness. Big Night earns its seat among the great restaurant films because it knows the table is both theatre and covenant. It’s generous, gently funny, and just tart enough to cut the richness—one wonderful film stocked with the best things in life: good food, good music, and people trying, messily and magnificently, to love one another.