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Big Kahuna, The
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 27 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 11 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama
Written by: Roger Rueff
Directed by: John Swanbeck
Release Date:
Theatrical: April 28, 2000
DVD: August 29, 2000
Running Time: 90 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
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.
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database
What The Critics Said
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.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Sharp-edged, perfectly timed, funny and thoughtful.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
The dialogue is loaded with depth charges that take a while to explode beneath the surface.
Read Full Review >Film.com Ernest Hardy
It's smart, funny and insightful and it's quite easy to see what attracted the stars to it.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Andy Klein
It doesn't have enough power in the first place to make a strong claim on our attentions.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
DeVito's low-key midlife crisis is consistently moving, but Spacey, saddled with the role of provocateur, is demonically boring.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
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.
