Smokin’ cinema: The five greatest movie barbeques
Nothing says summer quite like a barbeque, with even remotely decent weather the only thing required to convince anyone in either real life or a movie that it’s time to head out back and fire up the grill.
Whenever the forecast predicts taps aff with no chance of showers, it’s BBQ time. Cinema is no different, with plenty of films having featured their fair share of meats, veggies, and occasionally body parts being cooked up over hot coals.
There’s something indescribably great about kicking back and shooting the shit surrounded by friends or family with the sizzling of a barbie popping off in the background, and it’s served as the backdrop to plenty of memorable scenes on-screen over the years.
However, thanks entirely to a combination of the foodstuffs on display and the camaraderie displayed therein, the following five are shindigs that anybody would love to find themselves invited to.
The five greatest movie barbeques:
5. Gone in 60 Seconds (Dominic Senna, 2000)
The guestlist alone makes the rubber-burning thriller one of the greatest on-screen barbeques by default, although it’s probably best to ignore the questionable and potentially unsanitary preparation techniques.
Using the front end of a 1972 Chevrolet El Camino to cook meats is not recommended by professionals or health experts, but it doesn’t really matter what’s on the menu when the ragtag group of attendees makes it totally worth the trip.
After all, where else could you find Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall, Scott Caan, Will Patton, and Vinnie Jones all in the same place? The Gone in 60 Seconds barbeque, that’s where.
4. Gran Torino (Clint Eastwood, 2008)
Not only does the spread look delicious, but Clint Eastwood even learns some important life lessons when he attends a barbeque thrown by his neighbours in the coming-of-old-age story Gran Torino.
At first, the curmudgeonly Walt Kowalski doesn’t deem the food to be particularly appetising, but in addition to being won over by the grub rustled up by the Hmong community, he even becomes slightly less racist into the bargain.
Realising he has more in common than he thought with the people he’s been disparaging at every turn, there’s a much greater sense of closeness and spirit than he’s ever experienced with his own family. All that and the delicacies on offer are mouth-wateringly tasty treats.
3. Boyz n the Hood (John Singleton, 1991)
As well as establishing the tightknit sense of community the characters have grown up in, John Singleton’s Oscar-nominated Boyz in the Hood features a backyard barbeque of the highest order.
There’s a feast fit for a king being prepared on the grill, all while Cuba Gooding Jr and Ice Cube indulge their more chivalrous side to strike up some conversations with the ladies, which gets put to one side as soon as the food is served up.
Laid back but very personal at the same time, the accompanying soundtrack and easy-going nature of the soiree make it feel like the type of thing these folks would do every week, fostering an emotional connection that Singleton ultimately shatters in powerful style.
2. The Fast and the Furious (Rob Cohen, 2001)
It’s become such a staple of the franchise that no Fast & Furious movie feels truly complete without a backyard barbeque. The opening instalment in the never-ending saga set a precedent that can’t be topped.
Before it became increasingly self-aware and cognisant of its own ridiculousness, Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto was a guy who loved nothing more than bringing his nearest and dearest together for beverages and BBQs, and he didn’t have to repeatedly grumble the word “family” over and over again to make that point, either.
That being said, it’s not exactly played with the utmost seriousness when one character uses the chance to say grace as a means for thanking the man above “providing us with a direct port nitrous injection, four core intercoolers, and ball-bearing turbos, and titanium valve springs.”
1. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
The food in Goodfellas took on such a life of its own that the gangster classic, helmed by the inimitable Martin Scorsese, ended up leading to his mother writing and publishing her very own cookbook.
The prison meal may have belied its incarcerated origins by being made with the finest ingredients and a hefty helping of love, but the barbeque stands out as a shining example of how the personal and professional are always joined at the hip for any self-respecting wiseguy.
Paul Sorvinio’s Paulie Cicero might be lounging in a chair and stuffing his face with whatever’s hottest off the grill, but he’s still working. Alcohol in one hand and sandwich in the other, the crime boss still finds the time to pass messages between his cohorts to ensure it’s a business lunch at the end of the day.
