You CAN smell the food while watching
This is a beautiful movie on a number of levels. As many reviewers have noted already the Italian cooking and the scenes in the kitchen will have you craving a fine Italian dinner as soon as you finish watching.
Beyond the food this is a fine film with a very touching story involving two immigrant brothers who are extremely close despite their obvious personality differences. The tension between the brothers builds as they attempt to salvage their struggling restaurant business. Primo (Tony Shalhoub)the older brother has an artistic temperment and that applies to his uncompromising approach to cooking and cuisine. His brother,Secondi(Staney Tucci), has more material ambitions and is manipulated by a competing restauratnt owner into an ill-advised attempt to publicise their restaurant by having an elaborate dinner party for singer Louie Prima. Hence the film revolves around preparations for THE BIG NIGHT.
The climax has the conflict between the brothers break out into the open...
What a delight - but eat before you watch it
Eat before you watch this movie; otherwise, you'll end up painfully hungry and go stuff yourself with every bit of Italian food you can lay your hands on.
This is a simple story of two brothers struggling to fulfill their dreams - one to be a "success" in America; the other to be a great Italian chef.
Realizing the dreams of the first brother hinges on the success of one important meal depends on the skill of the second - and forces outside their control.
Tucci, Shaloub, Holm and company all give wonderful performances. There's no showing off by the many successful actors who are in this movie - they all just do a great job.
The climax of the movie is the banquet scene, and it's going to make you hungry and want to get up and dance.
The final scene which lasts for several minutes with the only dialog being one line - "are you hungry" - wraps up the movie nicely, and shows what a good director and actors can do when both understand the power of...
Wonderful "Little Film" -- So-So DVD
Stanley Tucci, as actor, co-writer, and co-director (with Campbell Scott, who also plays a pitch-perfect small part as a car salesman), deserves a great deal of the credit for this small, intimate, delightful film. But the film resonates because it got so many of the little touches right, from the ensemble cast to the soundtrack to the editing to the cinematography. So there is a lot of credit to go around.
Tucci plays Secondo, the aptly named younger of two Italian brothers who have emigrated to New Jersey from the Old Country. Secondo is the entrepreneur, the guy who wants the big Cadillac. Primo (Tony Shahloub), the older brother, is the magician of a chef. Primo is so good, in fact, that his culinary masterpieces go over the heads of the good folks of New Jersey. When contemplating a wonderful seafood risotto, a diner complains that she can't see the seafood, and that her desired side of spaghetti doesn't come with meatballs (inspiring the wonderful line, "Sometimes...
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