Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view. Plot summary: Primo (played by Tony Shalhoub) and Segundo (Stanely Tucci) are two Italian brothers who try to secure their part of the American dream via their small restaurant in New Jersey. Primo considers himself an artist, and sometimes spends so long on preparing a single dish that it becomes cost ineffective for the restaurant. This irks Segundo, who is doing all he can to keep the business afloat in the face of impending foreclosure by the bank.
Segundo sees a chance to save everything when friend/competing restaurateur Pascal (Ian Holm) promises to send a famous musician there for dinner. The ensuing publicity and reviews will surely drive new customers to the restaurant. Segundo convinces Primo to make a “big night” out of the occasion by preparing the most elegant and scrumptious meal possible, and they invite their closest friends to share in the evening.
Warning: Spoilers below!
Liked:
- The final scene was quite long (around 5 minutes, maybe) and filmed without cuts or dialogue. I was fascinated by the shot and couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. So much happened in that space of time, including forgiveness and reconciliation between the brothers.
Disliked:
- Not much happened in this movie. Sure, each character had his struggles and things changed from the beginning to the end, but man, it was slow and boring most of the time. Perhaps there was a lot of “subtext” that I simply missed out on, but I wasn’t that engaged in the story.
- I wanted to care about the characters and their fate, but that didn’t happen. Primo was barely on screen long enough to get a feel for him beyond his dedication to his craft, and Segundo was just all over the place in terms of dealing with the restaurant, wanting the trappings of success, fooling around with two women, etc. Neither of the main characters grabbed me.
- I’m not a foodie per se, so I didn’t come into this movie expecting to be dazzled by the cooking. But even I was a bit disappointed by how little time was spent in the kitchen. With the exception of a montage showing preparations for the big night, you’d hardly know there was food involved here at all.
Rating:
I had read some fantastic reviews of Big Night, so I decided to rent it on iTunes to see what all the fuss was about. Unfortunately, this just wasn’t my cup of tea. No, I don’t need car chases or explosions every five minutes to keep my attention, but I would like something to happen. It didn’t, so I give this film just 2 stars out of 5.