Big Night (1996)

User Review

• 

  BarneyNuttall

  10 / 10

  Remember the food scenes in Goodfellas and how they are the best scenes in the movie? No? Well, you should rewatch Goodfellas because they are. Big Night is essentially one of those scenes but stretched, like beautiful bread dough, to a warming one hour forty-seven minutes.
  
  The film is brimming with love and passion, both for food and for companionship. The ensemble cast of characters that backdrop the two main protagonists, with big names like Alison Janney and Liev Schreiber seamlessly melding into the mixing pot, provides the heart of this film. The party guests reminded me of The Grand Budapest Hotel, with its vast array of characters, each of which brilliantly nuanced and kind. Here, they are all brought together by the brilliance of food, something which I firmly believe in; that quality of good dining which brings people together, as if they were family.
  
  That's where the brilliant Italian-American culture bursts through. A culture filled with kindness and passion for life! A passion for living! Of course, this is no fantasy. The film is set in reality and it reminds us of our flawed protagonists. The film's sour ending reminds us that food and partying is a temporary pleasure. Our world isn't as sweet as luscious red wine but, instead, as murky as oil. One just has to lie on that one night, the big night... when everything was okay.

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