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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Big Kahuna, The
Lion's Gate Films


7.1

based on 27 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 11 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: R for language

Starring Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, Peter Facinelli, and Paul Dawson

Two veteran industrial lubricant salesmen (Danny DeVito and Kevin Spacey) attempt to break-in their enthusiastic young colleague (Peter Pacinelli) while sharing old stories in a hospitality suite at an annual manufacturer's convention in Wichita. All the while they hope they can persuade Dick Fuler, the "Big Kahuna," to place the mother of all orders which could revive their company's pitiful sales.

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Roger Rueff
DIRECTED BY:	John Swanbeck
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: August 29, 2000 Video: August 29, 2000 Theatrical: April 28, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	90 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

A drama of extraordinary power and insight with dazzling performances from not only Spacey but also Danny DeVito (who may well be at his best ever) and from newcomer Peter Facinelli.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Sharp-edged, perfectly timed, funny and thoughtful.

LA Weekly F. X. Feeney

It's a sweet chamber piece, beautifully played.

Newsweek Ted Gideonse

It is an intense study of the human condition, and man's relationship with God, aka the Big Kahuna.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

The most totally appealing and seemingly heartfelt performance of (DeVito's) career.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Good acting and pungent dialogue.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

The dialogue is loaded with depth charges that take a while to explode beneath the surface.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

It's smart, funny and insightful and it's quite easy to see what attracted the stars to it.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A flawed labor of love that's definitely worth a look.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

While it's done well enough here - written smartly, staged crisply and acted to the hilt - it doesn't last, except as a brief virtuoso piece for three players.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Doesn't have the dramatic heft to warrant all its angst and anguish.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Spacey, whose precise command of enunciation and diction, along with his wicked, reptilian charm, are strong enough to carry the show.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The dialogue often sounds like arch Mamet, and John Swanbeck's direction is as spare as the hotel-room decor.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

It's no meal, but it'll tide you over.

TNT RoughCut J. Rentilly

The Big Kahuna -- for its superb performances -- wants to be too much, but is about too little, working better as a series of fine monologues than as a cohesive story, the film's makers trapped somewhere between potential and reality, deal unclosed.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Never feels original, even though it's enjoyable to watch Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito and newcomer Peter Facinelli going at it with snappy patter.

Dallas Observer Andy Klein

It doesn't have enough power in the first place to make a strong claim on our attentions.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

That The Big Kahuna is hardly more than a sketch or curtain-raiser is not the fault of the play in itself -- it's short-film size, not feature-worthy.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

Peter Facinelli, as Bob, isn't up to verbal sparring with Kevin Spacey just yet.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Forgive me for being underwhelmed.

TV Guide Staff (Not credited)

It's a chamber piece that probably should have stayed where it started, in regional theater.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

DeVito's low-key midlife crisis is consistently moving, but Spacey, saddled with the role of provocateur, is demonically boring.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The movie isn't about anything except acting, and although the acting it shows is brilliant, it makes exactly the point that is the opposite of the point it thought it was making: Acting isn't enough.

Film.com Peter Brunette

Breaks no new ground and is tedious in the extreme.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

If the movie looked any cheaper, you might think you were paying more to get into the theater than was spent on making the film.

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

A ponderous stage adaptation that expends only the mildest effort to overcome its staginess.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Feels more like Barry Levinson's "Tin Men" on Prozac.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.1 (out of 10) based on 11 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ben B. gave it a 0:
The movie: Some idiot Christian salesman preaches to some guy instead of selling him lube. Then Kevin Spacey, fresh from his incredible performance in American Beauty, spends the next hour yelling at the idiot Christian salesman. They never leave the damn room. Avoid avoid avoid avoid!

Yoon C. gave it a 7:
Decent, with good key performances, but second-rate Mament imitation at best. Still, its examination of various facets and hidden motives--unknown even to characters themselves--of human interactions makes for a story in which we all grow a bit wiser.

[Anonymous] gave it a 9:
Excellent, thoughtful movie. A rare realistic presentation of a conservative Christian who takes his religion seriously and who struggles with the boundary between his religious life and his professional life. Spacy and DeVito were excellent as the non-Christian interlocutors who challenge, and develop respect as well, for this Christian man.

Michael M. gave it a 10:
This movie was a great adaptation from the stage to the screen, beautifully casted, Danny DeVito, Kevin Spacey, and Peter Facinelli displayed wonderful chemistry and talent, showing believable emotion on some of the more controversial subject matter. All in all a great film worth watching, for theatre and movie fans alike. (****)

Tommi M. gave it a 5:
Danny DeVito is really a great actor. He held this together. Movie was middle-of-the-road as far as quality and interest.

Ryan M. gave it a 10:
Wonderful, amazingly acted and beautifully written, it's one of the best pictures of the year.

Michael T. gave it a 10:
The closing monologue.... Made me breath deeply and express the present momment within myself.... Moving without moving.... just being moved and moved within myself.

Big Kahuna, The Lion's Gate Films

Big Kahuna, The
Lion's Gate Films