Big Night

"In love and life, one big night can change everything."

1996 1h 49m EN

👍

7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 287

DramaRomanceComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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

“In love and life, one big night can change everything.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Minnie Driver
Phyllis
Ian Holm
Pascal
Isabella Rossellini
Gabriella
Tony Shalhoub
Primo
Stanley Tucci
Secondo
Caroline Aaron
Woman in Restaurant
Marc Anthony
Cristiano
Allison Janney
Ann

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stanley Tucci
Writers: Joseph Tropiano, Stanley Tucci
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $4.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

30 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stanley Tucci, shot by Ken Kelsch. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Gary DeMichele. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Suzy Elmiger shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Minnie Driver and Ian Holm and Isabella Rossellini carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In love and life, one big night can change everything.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stanley Tucci directs. Ken Kelsch behind the camera. Gary DeMichele scores. Suzy Elmiger cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $4.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
230 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
4Directed by Stanley Tucci, shot by Ken Kelsch. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Gary DeMichele. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Suzy Elmiger shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Minnie Driver and Ian Holm and Isabella Rossellini carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "In love and life, one big night can change everything.".
9IMDB entry: tt0115678 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "immigrant", "new jersey", "jazz", "restaurant".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ken Kelsch
Original score: Gary DeMichele
Editing: Suzy Elmiger
Production design: Andrew Jackness
Costume design: Juliet Polcsa
Makeup / hair: Neal Martz
Sound: Michael Barry
Stunt coordinator: G.A. Aguilar
Runtime: 109 min · 1h 49m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $4,100,000
Box office: $12,000,000
Return: 293% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Big Night (1996)

Awards

The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Stanley Tucci

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Filipe Manuel Neto2024-01-16
★ 7/10
A forgotten film about naive, deeply believable and human people. There are certain films where everything depends on the actors' performance, and this is one of them. The dialogues are truly rich, the development of the characters and the ways they interact is highly valued, the plot is reduced to the simplest it can be and almost everything happens in the limited space of the Italian restaurant. It looks like a play, and that even leads me to believe that the film could be an adaptation of a play. Such simplicity and minimalism obviously mean that there was no significant financial investment on the production side. Cheap to make, with touches of indie cinema and quality personnel in the cast and crew, the film meets the necessary goals to entertain us pleasantly for some time, but it will never be unforgettable for anyone. In fact, it is quite forgotten nowadays, which I completely understand. Technically, the film does everything without mistakes, but it doesn't take any risks: the cinematography doesn't bring anything new or bold moves, rather the regular average that is presented without a single error. In common, the soundtrack is perfectly forgettable and the scenarios, although good and perfectly credible, do not have any particular interest. Even the restaurant is banal, an average establishment without any kind of interest, where you go for the quality of the food and not exactly for the atmosphere. The plot is very simple and works excellently: two brothers, Italian immigrants, have a restaurant that is about to close because they didn't know how to manage it and gain customers; This leads them to listen to the advice of the owner of a competing restaurant and invite singer Louis Prima to dinner in the hope of boosting the business. The brothers are, each in their own way, perfectly naive! If one is unable to understand that in a business like that, the customer is in charge and not the cook, the other decides to trust the advice of someone who had every reason to harm them. This makes them human, believable, and it is impossible not to suffer for them. The naivety is not just theirs: the character of Minnie Driver is also deeply naive in her own way, in the way she becomes romantically involved and allows herself to be deceived. Stanley Tucci, intelligently, collaborated directly in writing the script and the result was one of the best works of his career, with the actor in a role that he tailored to his own abilities and qualities, without prejudice to his colleagues, to whom he gives the necessary space to showcase their talent. Thus, Tony Shalhoub also makes the film an authentic calling card, proving his qualities as an actor. In a more reserved position, we must also highlight the collaboration of Minnie Driver and Ian Holm, and also the special participation of Isabella Rossellini, who brightens the film with her occasional but very committed collaboration.

Production companies