The Big Kahuna (2000)

One of the most underrated movies of all time; a true masterpiece!

This brilliant film was overlooked by pretty much everyone and this is a shame because it happens to be one of the most thought provoking movies of the last 20 years. In this day of huge, bloated budgets and more and more computer generated graphics, it's refreshing to see a movie about real people who talk like regular, everyday individuals who are going through trials and triumphs like the rest of the world. All of the three main actors give fine performances as well, but the stand out is Danny DeVito in what is arguably his best performance of his career.

I highly recommend this movie for anyone who likes to watch quality movies that deal with subjects that are relevant to our society. July 23, 2008

The Big Kahuna

For any fan of Kevin Spacey this is a must see film. As a chamber piece it it snaps with excellent performances from all actors. As our characters come more and more sharply into focus the push and pull between the sense of doom or triumph becomes less and less about the achievement of their business gaols and more about their own self discovery, and how they will share these insights with each other. A must see for fans of films that focus on great dialog as apposed to action and FX. June 29, 2008

Perfect casting!

This adaptation of Roger Rueff's play does not add more action just because it is in movie format. While not an action/adventure flick, this movie packs some really dramatic interactions. Three men on a business trip, all with complicated inner issues, try to focus on their sales objective, which is to land the "Big Kahuna" as new account. The casting of this movie was inspired. Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, and Peter Facinelli work well together and ring true as the characters they play. Wonderful movie! March 2, 2008

One of the best movies ever made!

For a movie that basically takes place in a hotel room the entire time this movie is great in every since of the word. I can relate to each of the three characters in this movie especially Kevin and Danny's roles. March 27, 2007

How Suite It Ain't

As a rule, I enjoy films based on plays because they frequently retain the discipline of theatre and avoid the cheap, sleazy, lazy, and gratuitous attention-getting devices for which movies are so well known. These pictures often boast well-developed characters, evolving situations that reveal complex motives, thereby building drama, and carefully hewn dialogue. The Big Kahuna, sadly, is a horse of another color - like Glengarry Glen Ross without the edge, energy, and exquisite contrapuntal timing.

Roger Rueff wrote the play, and the screenplay, Danny DeVito and Kevin Spacey star, Spacey also gets credit for production. Peter Facinelli rounds out this threesome of industrial lubricant reps holed up in yet another gruesome hospitality suite, desperately hoping to score. DeVito and Spacey are both terrific actors, and they make wonderful foils for each other, so, on paper it looks promising.

The Spacey character is most central; consequently, his flaws draw the movie down most obviously. Spacey is simply too cynical, bitter, and hollow to be interesting; he's toxic. DeVito, by contrast, is living in a gentle state of benign despair, toying with suicide the way a child might tease a scab. The Facinelli character is truly cardboard, a symbol - young, idealistic, and a born-again Christian who radiates mindless idealism.

For Rueff, this is a concept play, with a didactic agenda. By showing two worlds colliding, crass commercialism and intense religious faith, he wants us to notice how similar they are - indeed, he'd like us to conclude that there is only the thickness of a blonde hair separating a man who passionately sells industrial lubricant on the floor of a convention center from a man who passionately sells redemption while wearing a dress and standing in a pulpit. The concept in itself is interesting, but Rueff "tells," and tells and tells, he doesn't "show" through his characters. It is this interminable leading by the nose that causes the film to fail.

DeVito almost makes the sale at the film's end with a really beautiful speech, but by then it is too late. Also - perhaps one off color industrial lubricant joke too many. Avoid. October 27, 2006

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