The Brothers’ War-Stanley Tucci’s “Big Night” (1996)-A Film Review

DVD Review

By Sam Lowell

The Big Night, Stanley Tucci, Minnie Diver, Isabella Rossellini, Tony Shalhoub (1996) 

Everybody knows, everybody who frequents restaurants on a regular basis in any case knows that keeping them afloat for a long time is a tough dollar. The profit margins are low, aide only by the bailout liquor part of the bill, culinary trends change or service declines. All those conditions lead to a high turnover rate even among the better eateries. That hard fact is what sets the stage the film under review, The Big Night, in which all the problems of the industry are laid out and exacerbated by the temperamental perfection chef - owner and his manager-owner brother in the brothers’ war of the headline.   

Here is how the Italian food wars played out. A pair of Italian immigrant brothers, Primo, a perfectionist old school chef played by Tony Shalhoub, and Secondo, the manager of the restaurant find themselves in paradise on the Jersey shores. (Oops the restaurant was named Paradise there is no paradise in Jersey they have outlawed it there) They slave and strive to make a go of the place except perfectionist Promo will only plate A-1 food in a world that is on the go and happy with microwave whatever. Secondo tries to reason with him to give the people what they want to eat. But the entreaties fall on deaf ears. Meanwhile the very average joint up the street is serving “Amercianized” Italian food and succeeding. Perfection costs though and no customers as well and in the end the banks won’t lend any more money and are ready to foreclose. End of dream and maybe back to the back streets of Italy for the boys.

Secondo tries to hustle a loan from the owner of the successful restaurant up the street but no soap. What the owner does propose is to get his friend, Louis Prima, the big name bandleader who lit up the skies in the 1950s musical night (the non-rock and roll musical night which I was enmeshed in and did not come to appreciate Prima until much later) to patronize the brothers’ place one night for a food extravaganza experience. That imprimatur would insure the success of the operation in the future. What is good enough for Prima is good enough for everybody else was the hook. The brothers bought into the plan and made provision to have an all-out foodies’ paradise that night.       

The night of the big event an assortment of neighborhood people were invited as well. While they are waiting and drinking the brothers are putting on the after-burners to impress Mister Prima. As the night goes on and Prima does not show the brothers finally ladle out the food. By the end of dinner still no Prima. Then the wife of the owner who proposed the plan, Gabriella, played by the comely Isabella Rossellini, lets the cat out of the bag-her husband did not phone Prima to come. Wanted for his own reason to let the brothers go under and work for him. When the hard reality of their going under finally hits them the brothers let loose their accumulated frustrations and fight each other only in the last scene to reconcile and accept their fates.     

Oh yeah, although the pretty food was center stage here there was some romantic interest as well otherwise why have Isabella and Phyllis, played Minnie Diver, around to pretty up the human end of the scene. Get this though Secondo was having an affair with Gabriella while holding Phyllis at arm’s length on the marriage question with his girlfriend. Now despite what the trickster owner said you have a very good reason why he told his revenge the way he did. Phyllis just walked away. Good flick.