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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Big Night
Samuel Goldwyn Company


9.0

based on 23 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: R for language

Starring Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini, Minnie Driver, Ian Holm, and Tony Shalhoub

The story of two Italian brothers, Primo (Shalhoub) and Secondo (Tucci), who immigrated to America with the dream of running a successful restaurant. As their business struggles, they pin all of their hopes on a lavish banquet honoring star vocalist Louis Prima, who a friend has promised to bring to the restaurant.

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Joseph Tropiano Stanley Tucci
DIRECTED BY:	Campbell Scott Stanley Tucci
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: April 7, 1998 Video: September 30, 1997 Theatrical: September 20, 1996
RUNNING TIME:	107 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser

Big Night's beauty is the fact that it is about passion.

100

Mr. Showbiz F. X. Feeney

It is one of the most beautifully staged American movies in a very long time.

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

By the end of the movie, we have been through an emotional and a sensual wringer, in a film of great wisdom and delight.

100

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The real feast is in the mix of characters, each so finely and unschmaltzily delineated in a script so confident and controlled that even the most passing of participants comes alive.

Austin Chronicle Steve Davis

Big Night is, in a word, delicious.

Chicago Tribune John Petrakis

May not have the size and grandeur of some of the biographical and political epics being released this fall, but I defy you to find a better written, more honest -- or yes, more satisfying and delicious -- movie this year. [27 September 1996, Friday, p.C]

ReelViews James Berardinelli

In addition to their deft skill with light drama, the directors understand well-placed humor, and throw just the right amount of comedy into the mix to make Big Night fun without turning it into an outright farce.

USA Today Mike Clark

A robustly imaginative sleeper

Time Richard Schickel

A movie that is both as real as food on the table and as hauntingly evanescent as its taste on one's tongue.

Film.com Sean Means

It's so good, so jam-packed with delights, that it leaves you gorged -- and bemoaning the fatty glop that passes for moviemaking these days.

Variety Todd McCarthy

This unlikely collaboration between actors Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott is extremely well directed, making for a smartly made, delightfully acted period piece whose sensibility neatly straddles art films and the mainstream.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

It's the moviegoing equivalent of great eating.

Chicago Reader Staff (Not credited)

This little picture charms by virtue of its craft and patience.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

The film is loaded with brotherly affection and with warm, funny and poignant evocations of a gentler time.[20 September 1996, p.C12]

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

As delicately and deliciously prepared as the dishes it features, Big Night is a lyric to the love of food, family and persuasive acting.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

Both a delightful story and a great food movie that ranks with "Like Water for Chocolate'' or "Babette's Feast.''

New Times (L.A.) Peter Rainer

One of the few American independent films right now that actually deserves its high praise.

Film.com John Hartl

There's an almost natty precision about this picture that's so rare these days in American movies that it provides satisfaction in itself.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

Big Night, a scrumptious tale of great food and grand passions, belongs on the menu with such mouth-watering movie fare as "Babette's Feast" and "Like Water for Chocolate."

Film.com Keith Simanton

Like Primo's dishes, Big Night looks and tastes (yes, it does taste) like a labor of love.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

A feast of a film done on a low budget with a menu featuring top-grade acting, writing and direction.

TV Guide Staff (Not credited)

The script is shapeless and it all goes on far too long.

Film.com Tom Keogh

The story, ultimately, is about the classic conflict between a desire to cherish and protect one's unique gifts from a brutal world and a more practical instinct to compromise beauty.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

David O. gave it a10:
One of the finest "little movies" of the last 30 years. An absolute gem full of spot-on acting and wonderful writing.

Travis R. gave it a10:
It is perfect.

Michael A. gave it a 10:
I loved it.....real and warm.....great acting and a great script.

Andy M. gave it a 10:
So good, a moving movie with plenty of character and wonderful moments of pure food delight...simple and excellent.

Jessica M. gave it a 3:
It's a realy bad movie.

Marco V. gave it a 10:
Amazing, delicous, heartbreaking and simply beautiful. A film is to be treasured and recognized as a tribute to the American Dream. This film will fill your plate, and warm your heart.

Tessa D. gave it a 10:
Brilliantly thought out, with superb acting on the parts of Tucci, Shalhoub and Holm, the movie delivers all the goods, and a side dish to boot. A celebration of life and love, the film has a big heart. A must-see for anyone who has a stomach, and especially for anyone who has a little Italian pride, this one hits home. A real triumph!

Big Night Samuel Goldwyn Company

Big Night
Samuel Goldwyn Company