<P> Big Night is a 1996 American comedy - drama film directed by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci . Produced by David Kirkpatrick and Jonathan Filley for the Samuel Goldwyn Company, the film met with positive reviews and grosses $14 million worldwide . It was nominated for the "Grand Jury Prize" at the Sundance Film Festival and the "Grand Special Prize" at the Deauville Film Festival . </P> <P> Scott and Tucci won the New York Film Critics Circle Award and the Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best New Director . Tucci and Joseph Tropiano won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay . Tucci heads the cast, with Tony Shalhoub, Minnie Driver and Isabella Rossellini . </P> <P> On the New Jersey Shore in the 1950s, two Italian immigrant brothers from Abruzzo own and operate a restaurant called "Paradise ." One brother, Primo, is a brilliant, perfectionist chef who chafes under their few customers' expectations of "Americanized" Italian food . Their uncle's offer for them to return to Rome to help with his restaurant is growing in appeal to Primo . The younger brother, Secondo, is the restaurant manager, a man enamored of the possibilities presented by their new endeavor and life in America . Despite Secondo's efforts and Primo's magnificent food, their restaurant is failing . </P> <P> Secondo's struggles as a businessman render him unable to commit to his girlfriend Phyllis, and he has recently been sleeping with Gabriella, the wife of a competitor . Her husband's eponymous restaurant, "Pascal's", has succeeded despite (or perhaps due to) the mediocre, uninspired food served there . Desperate to keep Paradise afloat, Secondo asks Pascal for a loan . Pascal demurs, repeating a past offer for the brothers to work for him . This Secondo refuses to do; he and his brother want their own restaurant . In a seemingly generous gesture, Pascal insists that he will persuade popular Italian - American singer Louis Prima to dine at Paradise when in town, assuming the celebrity jazz singer's patronage will revitalize the brothers' business . Primo and Secondo plunge themselves into preparation for this "big night", spending their entire savings on food and inviting people (including a newspaper reporter) to join them in a magnificent feast centered around a timballo, a complicated baked pasta dish . Primo pours his heart into every dish, lavishing care and great expertise on the cooking . </P>

Where does the movie big night take place