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63
11th Hour, The
47
27 Dresses
29
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
39
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81
Bamako
84
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
47
Bella
68
Business of Being Born, The
69
Charlie Wilson's War
64
Cloverfield
30
Cover
68
Delirious
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
43
Final Season, The
41
First Sunday
51
Golden Compass, The
49
Good Night, The
65
Great Debaters, The
63
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52
Hollywood Dreams
7
Hottie and the Nottie, The
60
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With
15
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
81
Juno
70
Lars and the Real Girl
47
Lions for Lambs
41
Mad Money
71
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
xx
Moondance Alexander
53
Music Within
77
Nanking
44
Nina's Heavenly Delights
24
One Missed Call
74
Orphanage, The
30
Over Her Dead Body
39
P.S. I Love You
37
P2
46
Reservation Road
55
Resurrecting the Champ
57
Romulus, My Father
85
Savages, The
78
Starting Out in the Evening
83
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
57
Teeth
92
There Will Be Blood
38
Trailer Park Boys: The Movie
32
Untraceable
63
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
68
War Dance
71
Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, The
43
Youth Without Youth
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
92
There Will Be Blood
85
Savages, The
84
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
83
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
81
Juno
81
Bamako
78
Starting Out in the Evening
77
Nanking
74
Orphanage, The
71
Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, The
71
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
70
Lars and the Real Girl
69
Charlie Wilson's War
68
Business of Being Born, The
68
Delirious
68
War Dance
65
Great Debaters, The
64
Cloverfield
63
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
63
11th Hour, The
63
Hannah Takes the Stairs
60
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With
57
Romulus, My Father
57
Teeth
55
Resurrecting the Champ
53
Music Within
52
Hollywood Dreams
51
Golden Compass, The
49
Good Night, The
47
Bella
47
Lions for Lambs
47
27 Dresses
46
Reservation Road
44
Nina's Heavenly Delights
43
Youth Without Youth
43
Final Season, The
41
Mad Money
41
First Sunday
39
Alvin and the Chipmunks
39
P.S. I Love You
38
Trailer Park Boys: The Movie
37
P2
32
Untraceable
30
Over Her Dead Body
30
Cover
29
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
24
One Missed Call
15
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
7
Hottie and the Nottie, The
xx
Moondance Alexander
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Big Kahuna, The
Lion's Gate Films
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...
90
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.

88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Sharp-edged, perfectly timed, funny and thoughtful.

80
LA Weekly
F. X. Feeney
It's a sweet chamber piece, beautifully played.

80
Newsweek
Ted Gideonse
It is an intense study of the human condition, and man's relationship with God, aka the Big Kahuna.
75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
The most totally appealing and seemingly heartfelt performance of (DeVito's) career.

75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Good acting and pungent dialogue.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Graham
The dialogue is loaded with depth charges that take a while to explode beneath the surface.

70
Film.com
Ernest Hardy
It's smart, funny and insightful and it's quite easy to see what attracted the stars to it.

63
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
A flawed labor of love that's definitely worth a look.
63
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.

63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
Doesn't have the dramatic heft to warrant all its angst and anguish.
63
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.
63
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.

63
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
It's no meal, but it'll tide you over.
60
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.
60
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.

60
Dallas Observer
Andy Klein
It doesn't have enough power in the first place to make a strong claim on our attentions.

58
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.

58
Portland Oregonian
Marc Mohan
Peter Facinelli, as Bob, isn't up to verbal sparring with Kevin Spacey just yet.
50
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
Forgive me for being underwhelmed.
50
TV Guide
Staff (Not credited)
It's a chamber piece that probably should have stayed where it started, in regional theater.

50
Chicago Reader
Lisa Alspector
DeVito's low-key midlife crisis is consistently moving, but Spacey, saddled with the role of provocateur, is demonically boring.

50
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.

40
Film.com
Peter Brunette
Breaks no new ground and is tedious in the extreme.

40
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.

33
Mr. Showbiz
Michael Atkinson
A ponderous stage adaptation that expends only the mildest effort to overcome its staginess.
30
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
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