Big Night

Big Night is a 1996 American comedy-drama film co-directed by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci.^[3] Set in the 1950s on the Jersey Shore, the film follows two Italian immigrant brothers, played by Tucci and Tony Shalhoub, as they host an evening of free food at their restaurant in an effort to allow it to gain greater exposure. The film's supporting cast includes Minnie Driver, Ian Holm, Isabella Rossellini, and Allison Janney.^[3]

Produced by David Kirkpatrick and Jonathan Filley for the Samuel Goldwyn Company, Big Night was met with largely positive reviews and grossed $14 million worldwide. It was nominated for the "Grand Jury Prize" at the Sundance Film Festival and the "Grand Special Prize" at the Deauville Film Festival. Scott and Tucci won the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best New Director. Tucci and Joseph Tropiano won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.

On the Jersey Shore in the 1950s, two Italian immigrant brothers from Calabria own and operate a restaurant called Paradise. One brother, Primo, is a brilliant, perfectionist chef who chafes under their few customers' expectations of Americanized Italian food. Their uncle's request that they help run his own, increasingly popular, restaurant back in Rome has a growing appeal for Primo.

The younger brother, Secondo, is the restaurant manager, a man enamoured of the possibilities presented by their new endeavor and life in America. Despite Secondo's efforts and Primo's magnificent food, their restaurant is failing to gain success and recognition.

Secondo's struggles as a businessman render him unable to commit to his girlfriend Phyllis, and he has recently been sleeping with Gabriella, the wife of a competitor. Her husband's eponymous restaurant, "Pascal's", has succeeded despite (or perhaps due to) the mediocre, uninspired food served there.

Desperate to keep Paradise afloat, Secondo asks Pascal for a loan. Pascal demurs, repeating a past offer for the brothers to work for him, which Secondo refuses: he and his brother want their own restaurant. In a seemingly generous gesture, Pascal insists that he will persuade popular Italian-American singer Louis Prima to dine at Paradise when in town, assuming the celebrity jazz singer's patronage will revitalize the brothers' business.

Primo and Secondo dive into the preparations for this "big night", spending their entire savings on food, drinks and decoration, inviting numerous people, including a newspaper reporter and Primo's love interest, to join them for a magnificent feast showcasing a timpano, a complex baked pasta dish. Primo pours his heart into every dish, lavishing care and great expertise on the cooking.

As they wait for Prima and his entourage to arrive, the dinner party indulges in the exquisite food and partakes in a fabulous celebration. Hours go by, however, and it becomes apparent that the famous singer is not coming, although the reporter, impressed by the food, promises to ask his newspaper to send a food critic to give the restaurant a boost. Phyllis catches Secondo and Gabriella kissing and runs off to the beach. As Gabriella and Pascal leave, she reveals that he never called Louis Prima, thus ending the party.

Secondo follows Phyllis to the beach where they have a final quarrel. Primo and Secondo have a fiery, heart-wrenching argument, chafing at their mutual differences. In the wee hours of the morning, Pascal admits to Secondo that he set the brothers up for failure, not as revenge for Secondo's affair with Gabriella, but because the brothers would have no choice but to work for him. Secondo refuses him, saying they will never work for him.

As dawn breaks, Secondo silently cooks an omelette. When done, he divides it in thirds, giving one portion to their waiter Cristiano, one to himself, and leaving the remainder in the pan. Primo hesitantly enters, and Secondo serves him the last portion. Cristiano leaves, as the brothers begin to eat. They lay their arms across one another's shoulders, and eat silently.

En el agregador de reseñas Rotten Tomatoes , la película tiene una calificación de aprobación del 97% basada en 56 reseñas, con una calificación promedio de 8.1/10. El consenso de la crítica del sitio web dice: "Las actuaciones en Big Night son maravillosas y la comida se ve deliciosa". ^{[ 4 ]} En Metacritic , la película tiene una puntuación promedio ponderada de 80 sobre 100, basada en 23 críticos, lo que indica reseñas "generalmente favorables". ^{[ 5 ]}

Durante la exhibición de la película en Denver, Landmark Theatres , KVOD , Cooks Mart y Barolo Grill patrocinaron un sorteo llamado "Gran Noche en Barolo Grill" vinculado a las proyecciones en el Esquire Theatre ; los cinéfilos que vieron la película durante sus primeras tres semanas podían registrarse en el cine o en los negocios participantes para ganar una cena de nueve platos para dos personas, valorada en 250 dólares, en Barolo Grill. ^{[ 6 ]} La cena se celebró el 30 de octubre de 1996, y 22 ganadores del sorteo disfrutaron de una comida de nueve platos preparada por el chef David Steinmann, acompañada de vino italiano y grappa. ^{[ 7 ]}

Peter Travers de Rolling Stone calificó la película como "un festín cinematográfico realizado con un presupuesto bajo, con un menú que incluye actuaciones, guion y dirección de primer nivel". ^{[ 8 ]}

Roger Ebert del Chicago Sun-Times dijo sobre la película: "' Gran noche'«Es una de las grandes películas sobre comida, y sin embargo es mucho más. Trata sobre la comida no como un tema, sino como un lenguaje: el lenguaje con el que uno puede hablar con los dioses, crear, seducir, aspirar a la perfección». ^{[ 9 ]}

• Gran noche en IMDb
• Gran noche en Box Office Mojo
• "El cielo y el infierno en la gran noche "