The People's Review of The Big Kahuna
85
score = None
comments = The point is that whenever you are pushing your point of view
you violate the "other." If love comes from God, then the
proseletizing of either religion or lubricants violates God, because it
judges the "other" or uses him/her.
Jim
score = 10
This is the worst movie I have ever seen. It took every once of energy not
to get up and leave the theatre. One hour and 31 minutes of mindless
masturbation. No plot, terrible dialogue, pathetic characters, awful
acting. Sucked big time!!!!!! My friend who just read the review and saw
the film with me said that my critique is not harsh enough.
Nick
score = 30
Sorry, kevin spacey couldnt carry the movie the entire time...nor should
he have had to, considering the lifeless and banal performances of devito
and facinelli. Unfortunate because the movie started out so well. A
convention, a perfect place to introduce spacey's penultimate character,
one which we frequently see him playing, the snotty, abrupt,
"blunt" , sarcastic businessman. The sad part is that the
role which spacey has played so well in other movies like american beauty
and swimming with sharks, has no room to flourish here, for all the
audience is allowed to see is 3 grown men sitting in the hospitality suite
of a witchita hotel, talking about "god". The potential for
riotously funny banterings between the 3 characters is enormous. The big
Kahuna, we wonder, whats this character all about, how will they land the
big kahuna, what clever plan will they hatch to land this once in a
lifetime, bread and butter client...? The imagination runs wild with the
thought of all these possibilities, but thats pretty much as far as it
goes. Yes, this movie is all dialogue, which, when perfected, is far
superior to any special effect you can sink money into, for an example,
see Glengarry GlenRoss. Dialogue with direction is great, but vague and
repititious dialogue about one man's spirituality versus another's lack
thereof, just didnt add up to "entertainment" for me. I would
have liked to see something, anything actually happen in this movie, with
spacey and devito, one would expect far more than was actually delivered.
a sales person
score = 100
this was a great movie. It exposed the varous emotional issues facing us
in the sales profession. Often times, outsiders see us as no more than
mere glad handers, smoozers, and compliment giving ass kissers. Under the
veneer is a struggle to make your product the most appealing, even when
you know of all of its warts and the lack of the organization's inability
to support your efforts in the field - all the while demanding that you
bring home the order from the Big Kahuna (or your largest customer). I
greatly enjoyed the dialogue between Spacey and de Vito at the tail end of
the movie. I was also greatly impressed how de Vito carreid his character,
displaying the burnout all of us in sales eventually achieve and coming to
a cross roads in your life when you must make choices so not to have the
life destruct you or the ones around you who care for you. Danny's
dressing down of the Bob and his holy approach to jesus (that's his
product)and Bob's inability to regret what he has done was very powerful.
It is a man telling us that we are inable to feel the pain of life unless
you can look back and see all the wrongs you have commited and now carry
the guilt and sting of wishing it could, somehow, be all rearranged and
righted. This was a great movie and it blends the humorous with the angst
with such great skkill. The actors carried their lines/persona extremely
well, the screenplay was excellent, and the camera angles were just as
powerful, all amplifying on the individual emotions each man felt. True to
the life of a sales person,the film has no happy ending, or for that
matter a definitive closure. It's just another day to put yourself in
front of others and make due with what you have of offer, hoping that it
will somehow connect.
eirik pontious
score = 100
definately in the all time top five. I haven't seen kevin spacey
this good since swimming with the sharks. Peter Facineli is truly an
up an comer, i think we will see a lot from him. In My opinion, this
movie comes in a close third in my top five, beaten only by Hard leaving
las vegas, in second and Msgnolia in the # 1 slot
Mike Brown
score = 90
While it's not a film for those who require gunfights, gladiatoral combat
or gross-out humor, those who appreciate superb, understated acting and
insightful writing with intelligent themes, might appreciate "The Big
Kahuna." With no special effects or elaborate dolly shots, the
filmmaking process is totally subservient to the writing and acting.
"The Big Kahuna" is, therefore, not for everyone. It's
takes that rare filmgover commodity, intelligence, to appreciate.
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A
funny, powerful and insightful meditation on life, love, friendship,
honesty, work and God, THE BIG KAHUNA marks director John
Swanbeck's film debut, as well as the producing debut of Academy Award
winning actor Kevin Spacey, who stars along with Danny DeVito and Peter
Facinelli. Written by Roger Rueff, based on his play "Hospitality
Suite," it is being distributed by Lions Gate Films.
