| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Marc Anthony | ... | Cristiano | |
| Tony Shalhoub | ... | Primo | |
| Stanley Tucci | ... | Secondo | |
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Larry Block | ... | Man in Restaurant |
| Caroline Aaron | ... | Woman in Restaurant | |
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Andre Belgrader | ... | Stash (as Andrei Belgrader) |
| Minnie Driver | ... | Phyllis | |
| Peter McRobbie | ... | Loan Officer | |
| Isabella Rossellini | ... | Gabriella | |
| Liev Schreiber | ... | Leo | |
| Pasquale Cajano | ... | Alberto N. Pisani | |
| Christine Tucci | ... | Woman Singer | |
| Gene Canfield | ... | Charlie | |
| Ian Holm | ... | Pascal | |
| Allison Janney | ... | Ann | |
Primo and Secondo are two brothers who have emigrated from Italy to open an Italian restaurant in America. Primo is the irascible and gifted chef, brilliant in his culinary genius, but determined not to squander his talent on making the routine dishes that customers expect. Secondo is the smooth front-man, trying to keep the restaurant financially afloat, despite few patrons other than a poor artist who pays with his paintings. The owner of the nearby Pascal's restaurant, enormously successful (despite its mediocre fare), offers a solution - he will call his friend, a big-time jazz musician, to play a special benefit at their restaurant. Primo begins to prepare his masterpiece, a feast of a lifetime, for the brothers' big night... Written by Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>
This is just amazing, quite unlike any other "american" film I ever saw; a gentle, bittersweet tale of frustrated dreams and artistic integrity, an hilarious comedy of manners performed by an outstanding international cast, a touching blend of awkward romance and the central relationship between the two brothers, brilliantly portrayed by co-creator Tucci and Hollywood's "every-foreigner", the sublime Tony Shalhoub. Big Night dragged me through wider range of emotions than any other movie, it made me want to dance and sing during the party scene (Mambo Italiano), made me laugh out loud at the wacky characters sprinkled throughout, made me angry with the philistines and money-grabbing capitalists who spoil the brothers' dream, made me want to hug Shalhoub's shy gastronomic genius Primo as he tried so clumsily to chat up his flower-girl; the food looked simply amazing, Minnie Driver splashing around in the sea was at her most gorgeous, every actor played their brilliantly scripted part to perfection and the scene at the end with the omelette is the most beautiful and poignant ending I could ever hope to see. All in all this film is one of the best ever made and everyone in the world and especially in Hollywood should be forced to watch it every week until they get some humanity back in them. But not on an empty stomache, get some snacks in first eh.