The Big Kahuna

source: The Big Kahuna

'The Big Kahuna' is actually just a big conversation, a three-way encounter between a trio of industry representatives hoping to entice an important client. And the combination of a lively script and a heavyweight cast delivers the goods, Danny de Vito is strong and (in the most interesting role) Kevin Spacey is excellent; Peter Facinelli is OK, but his part offers less scope to the actor. But for all the quality, it's a bit hard to see the focal point of the drama is supposed to be about. Spacey plays a pushy, egotistical salesman whose frustration with the self-righteous Facinelli suddenly boils over; the extension from the everyday to the existential is well-handled but never opens the heart of the character to us, de Vito vouches for him but it's not quite enough. The use of Baz Luhrman's feel-good but platitudinous 'Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen' over the closing credits feels like a glib opt out of forcing the drama to stand on its own feet. An interesting film nonetheless.

This film was a David Mamet wanna-be. It lacks the twisted and subtle inter-personal relationships that would be necessary to bring life to an endlessly hard driving dialogue. This emptiness was emphasized by Kevin Spacey who is usually a master of this genre when backed up with the right script and direction. Consequence: this picture demanded my attention for no good reason. I'd give it a 6.

THE BIG KAHUNA (2000) **1/2 Kevin Spacey, Danny De Vito, Peter Facinelli. (Dir: John Swanback) Kevin Spacey, arguably one of our finest actors performing today and with a recent Oscar win as Best Actor in the Best Picture of the Year, `American Beauty', has talent to burn and in his current display of subtle, nuanced brio he takes a step down in this indie satire that he produced, as a pet project. Spacey stars as Larry Mann, a fast-talking, smug and perhaps too sharp for his own good marketing salesman for a midWestern industrial lubricant manufacturer who is one of three fellow travelers setting up a much anticipated greet/meet with an important client (the eponymous moniker he uses as a mantra to signify the underlining of its significance) in the unlikely hotel suite in Wichita, Kansas. Also on board are his best friend and longtime associate Phil Cooper (De Vito in a wonderfully low-keyed, yet bluntly hewned turn) and green recruit Bob Walker (Facinelli, who I am hard pressed to keep from comparing him to a Tom Cruise manque, and proved wrong I might add by his performance that requires full concentration and total believeablilty for his task at hand), who contradict the self-assured Larry, who has convened the trio on their cramped luxury accomodations, by being there for one sole purpose: land the grand account. What makes the story intriguing is the cutting dialogue lobbed with perfection by its players that manage to raise it above a watered down David Mamet parable about men bonding (and unbonding as the case remains) and the cunning skill it takes to be a businessman and shirking one's individuality for the almighty buck. That's when the film on itself nearly capsizes. Basically the storyline unfolds like `Waiting For Godot', the three salesman have set up a cocktail party for their meeting with this red herring of sorts, and what ultimately comes down the pike is he shows but unknowingly to Larry and Phil, has had a heart to heart with the young Bob. Realizing they only have one shot when Bob casually describes a warm conversation leading to an invitation to an exclusive gathering late in the evening, Larry and Phil persuade their cohort to ingratiate himself into the good graces of their client-to-be which results in an unlikely turn of events: namely the subject of one's self-beliefs (i.e. what one considers important and in this case it is Bob's straight-arrow image and his strong will in being a faithful, God-fearing man who loves his wife and believes there's more to life than this account). Spacey and De Vito, reunited from `L.A. Confidential' make a nice comic team as they try to make sense of their lives, particularly the latter's downward spiral since his pending divorce and sudden sense of getting out of the business, leaving the former flummoxed and later, to a fault, self-discovery that it may have been too late. There are some comparisons to a Billy Wilder sense of responsiblities here and the stagy direction by theatrical trained Swanback (the piece was performed onstage as well) but that only enhances the nicely conveyed characters on screen. Spacey has a lot of fun here particularly in having his character display some spontaneous feats of frustration to comic effect: in one scene he practically has a hissy fit on a sofa and in another his apoplectic facial reactions are only harnessed by his sarcastic responses. Funny and enlightening: a rare combination. The same could be said of Kevin Spacey himself.

For some, this movie might seem quite boring. What's the point in watching three men talking in one room for almost two hours?! But tell you what?.. this movie is not boring at all! There's almost no storyline to speak of, but the script is more than beautiful. It will turn you into one big attentive ear. In addition, Kevin Spacey with his wonderful performance and entertaining sense of humor and wit made this movie a must-see. The movie doesn't want you to side with any of the three characters; it simply displays three different samples of human nature, and their views on the world (especially the concept of appearance vs reality).

When I went to go see Big Kahuna I expected to see a well acted and overall entertaining film. Kevin Spacey is, in my opinion, one of the best actors to grace the big screen in the last ten years. I also expected much more from Devito and Facinelli. While I felt that the acting wasn't awful, I found that the script was one of the worst I had been exposed to. It consisted of unmeaningful speeches that were irrelevant and out and out boring. I found myself wanting to leave after ten minutes. It has been a long time since a movie has been this painful for me to sit through. Do yourself the favor and skip viewing this disappointing film!

"The Big Kahuna" proved to be one of the finest offerings that I was privy to at the Toronto International Film Festival this year. The expression "saving the best for last" applies strongly to this film. We were fortunate to have a Q&A after the film with Roger Rueff, the screenwriter of this eloquently written piece, John Swanbeck, the director enjoying all that a first timer could hope for from his debut, and the gifted actor Kevin Spacey, who starred in and produced the film. This marvellous examination of three men of different age groups at a convention in Wichita also features the talents of Danny DeVito who apparently came to the production in the proverbial last minute. This film was shot in a very short sixteen days which comes as a surprise, despite it's one central location, as the dialogue is so strong. The best way to describe it is as almost poetic. The script was adapted from the play "Hospitality Suite", also written by Rueff, who revealed in the Q&A that the story was based upon his own experiences at a sales convention long ago. But he assured us that his character of the young, impressionable, bible thumping "Bob" was not based on himself. Rueff also noted that with this being his first screenplay, he had worried about the horror stories he heard where scripts are butchered and transformed into things the writer never intended in many Hollywood productions. But in this case, he trusted the director and cast implicitly and was not disappointed in any way. Kevin Spacey shines in this sneak peak behind the scenes of a sales convention where the future of a company lies squarely on the shoulders of three men in the pursuit of a big client. The president of another company represents the biggest potential account they will ever have. They exchange stories, accounts and personal philosophies and find how different they are from one another based on what they've been through. The interaction between the three actors is mesmerizing. They take the audience into what feels like a true life account documented verbatim. To say more would spoil the outcome for those who've not yet had a chance to enjoy this film. It is my strong recommendation that all of those who have not, do so at their first available opportunity.

Three lubricant salesman are staying at a hotel in Wichita to lure the most powerful man in the district (The Big Kahuna)...The three men are Kevin Spacey; a slightly beaten man who is seemingly flippant about failure...Danny DeVito; an exhausted individual who is seeking some kind of spirituality in his life, and Peter Facinelli; a young and maverick salesman who lives by the straight and narrow and turns to Jesus for answers!! The setting is all pretty much laid out to establish the genre and imagery of this film... The frumpy and unassuming western end of the Midwest (Wichita)...An emphatically uneventful aspect of the adjective "upscale", by way of an anonymous Raddissson hotel...Cheese and crackers, instead of gulf shrimp!! Last but not least, the indication that a lot of sales excursions for these three men have resulted in less than aupicatory satisfaction!!! Ultimately, what clinches the motif of monumental failure in these three men's lives is that they are painfully reminded of how disappointing the whole sales rigmarole can be!! It is alright to fail, however, failure must have a reason, and now, for Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito, recrimination must serve a constructive purpose!! Being lambasted by mediocrity has become the insidious social hindrance which has aggregately demoralized both of them!! For these two, their Horatio Alger spirits have been utterly vitiated!!! This is a very ideologically riveting concept that the film "The Big Kahuna" purveys!! The intense emotions in this movie are extremely realistic!! Kevin Spacey's performance is remarkable!!! The ideological premise of life having a cohesive plausibility has been totally obliterated in this film!!! For better or for worse, reality has now become vicariously abusive!!! The resonating attitudes for the main characters in this movie ultimately emerged with all three men have a clearer understanding of one another. I found this movie to be identifiable and poignant!! Upper middle class hang-ups have effortlessly thwarted as well as devoured all three of these men!!! Failure to close a sale transcends the loss of commission, it also serves as an indictment on an individual's charisma!! The outstanding portrayal of recognizable human inadequacies is the key component as to why I strongly recommend that every salesperson in this country sees this film!!

Spoilers herein. It is truly interesting to see what films successful actors craft for themselves. If it doesn't define the true character, it surely reflects on the core of how they see their art. This is Spacey's creation, and it speaks highly of what he is about. Spacey and DeVito are not multidimensional actors. That is, they don't present simultaneous views (like say Hoffman and Penn). No, they aren't modern in this sense, instead find a single center and use it to manipulate a thread, instead shifting that thread up into introspection, down into `action,' up again into that space where art meets life. For such actors, the writing is central - everything centers on conversation and focus. So here, we have a film about conversation; about whether conversations have their own fate; whether directed conversations can be honest, which is the same as exploring the nature of whether acting can be honest. The dialog is in one world at a time, but shifts among acting as being human, acting as being `marketeers,' acting as being actors. This shift is managed by toggling the focus: the Big Kahuna flips among a key sales target (Fuller, Dick), God, a disembodied Godot called Murdock, and all of three actors. DeVito is one of the most intelligent film people in Hollywood, going so far as making a comedy from Nabokov (`Momma'). Spacey has focus, and cares to fabricate something that manipulates and tells us so and why. `If you know what you are doing, you don't have to look like you know what you are doing.' Put this on the shelf with Andre and Vanya. It is worth experiencing.