Hidden Gems: Big Night
By Kyle Lee
January 26, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
But Tucci himself, acting as lead actor/director/writer/producer of the project, said he never set out to make a “food movie.” He set out to make a movie about the struggle between art and commerce. He was acting in movies he didn’t care about while complaining about the lack of great scripts and movies out there. So he decided to take his career in his own hands and make a movie for which he truly had passion.
What he made is a study about all the important things in life and about having your priorities in order. It’s a movie about family, about love, relationships, business, the struggle of an immigrant with both the language and culture, the good times and the bad times and everything in between. It’s a movie about life.
The story is that of Italian immigrant brothers, Primo (Tony Shalhoub) and Secondo (Tucci). They run a failing restaurant, Paradise, in the 1950s. Primo acts as the perfectionist chef and Seco the sous chef/front of house/manager. On a night where there are only two paying customers in the restaurant, Primo and Seco argue over the woman’s desire for a side of spaghetti with her risotto.
Seco politely tries to tell the woman that because risotto is rice and spaghetti is pasta, both are starches and two starches don’t go together, really. Quickly he relents, wanting to keep his only customers happy, even though the woman also has the audacity to want meatballs with her spaghetti (spaghetti and meatballs being an American dish, as the meat and the pasta would be separate courses in the dinner of an Italian).
“Why?” says Primo when Seco comes back to place the order for the spaghetti. “But they’re both starches! Maybe, I make a mashed potato for another side! No, I go talk to her, this woman is a criminal.” Eventually, he throws his hands in the air and says, “No, she’s a philistine. She no understand anyway.” When they later sit and talk about the night and Primo’s desire to serve people only real authentic Italian food, Primo says “If we give the people time, they will learn.” Secondo, knowing how little money they have, counters “We’re a restaurant, not a fucking school.”
This is contrasted against the restaurant down the street run by the charming Pascal (Ian Holm). Pascal’s place is packed every night, and when Seco goes to visit him, on nearly every single table he sees a plate of spaghetti and meatballs, along with happy customers. Seco goes to Pascal to ask for money, but Pascal counters with an offer to have his friend who’s coming into town, jazz star Louis Prima and his band, come dine at Paradise. The ensuing publicity from a big star eating there will make people want to come eat at the restaurant and so business will boom. That sets in motion the story leading up to the big night of the title. Seco must manage his relationship with Phyllis (Minnie Driver), while he’s cheating on her with Pascal’s wife Gabriella (Isabella Rosselini). Primo, meanwhile, must cook the meal of his life while awkwardly getting something going with Ann (Allison Janney), the flower lady in town.
Primo and Secondo bicker and fight like all brothers do, but with the feeling coming through that no matter what happens they still love each other and blood is thicker than water. Pascal at one point essentially lays out the theme of the movie, as he tells Seco, “The customer don’t wanna look down at his plate and think ‘what the fuck is this?’ He wants to look down and see ‘It’s steak? I like steak!’ See, first you give them what they want, then you can give them what you want.” Seco understands this subtle pandering to the consumer, but Primo will have none of it. His food is his art, and like all gifted artists, his art is his soul. He can’t and won’t compromise that just to make money.
This is a fascinating exploration of any art, no matter the medium, as there is always that balance between art and commerce. When it comes to movies there aren’t always artists who can achieve that balance. Some, like Hitchcock, found it. But during most of his lifetime he was thought of as more of a popcorn filmmaker, making movies that didn’t really have any depth and were only popular with the audience because they were easily digestible fluff. Not until the French Cahiers du Cinema critics, mainly led by Francois Truffaut, began championing Hitch’s work in the '50s and '60s did he really get reevaluated and deemed a great artist in addition to his commercial success.
It’s why you so rarely see the top movies on critic’s lists and around awards season being the same movies that are topping the box office. The critics want to support the art because they’re disconnected from the financial side. The studios want a big hit because they’re the ones ponying up the money to make the movie, so if it’s a critical hit, great, but they really want the dough. There’s justification for both sides, and that’s where the struggle comes in. Primo isn’t wrong for wanting to make the food he wants to make, but Pascal isn’t wrong, either, in his giving people what they want and being a successful businessman.
Because it explores some real themes, it took a little bit for Big Night to sink in as my favorite movie. I mean, I loved it immediately. It’s funny, touching, wonderfully acted and has a real creative brain behind it. But it’s low key, not showy, and so I found myself continuing to think about it and revisit it and think about it some more. So if you watch it and aren’t bowled over, don’t be too quick to judge. I’ve always found that the best movies, and art in general, get better the more you see them. And a hidden gem like Big Night deserves to be seen by more people.