Big Night (1996)

Big Night (1996)

A delightful comfort food movie about comfort food

7.7

Movie

United States of America
English, Italian
Comedy, Drama, Romance
1996
CAMPBELL SCOTT, STANLEY TUCCI
Allison Janney, Campbell Scott, Caroline Aaron
107 min

What it's about

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

The take

There are comfort food movies, and then there are films like Big Night: comfort food movies about comfort food. Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub are brothers running a failing Italian restaurant. Their last chance to save it from foreclosure is to throw a colossal dinner bolstered by a dubious promise of a visit from singer Louis Prima.

The comedy is mellow and pleasant, and Tucci and Shaloub have wonderful chemistry as bickering brothers. Meanwhile, a great supporting cast featuring Isabella Rosellini, Ian Holm, and Allison Janney more than make up for the somewhat predictable script.

 

Comments

Add a comment

What did you think? Who should watch it?

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

More like this in

Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (2023)

Director Lijo Jose Pellissary invites us to Tamil Nadu in this dreamlike slice-of-life film

7.5

Love Is in the Air (2023)

It’s even more cliched and implausible than most standard-issue romantic comedies, but this Aussie film is not without its charms

6.0

Lingui: The Sacred Bonds (2021)

Solidarity is salvation in this moving portrait of female resilience

8.3

Cocoa (2023)

If you can enjoy it for what it is—a squeaky clean TV movie that’s as much for kids as it is for adults—then Cocoa can be harmless good fun

4.7

Kountry Wayne: A Woman’s Prayer (2023)

Energetic delivery doesn't make up for repetitive jokes about low-hanging fruit in this special

5.4

Forgotten Love (2023)

The stunning third take of the classic Polish pre-war melodrama

7.7

Can You See Us? (2023)

Zambia makes its debut on Netflix with this moving drama about a boy with albinism

7.3

Bottoms (2023)

A supremely weird teen movie with an embarrassment of committed comedic performers

7.3

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)

A star-studded and riveting legal drama with a blockbuster feel.

9.1

Moon Students (2023)

A white savior story masquerading as an empowering film

5.0

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2023 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.