- Actors: Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, Peter Facinelli
- Directors: John Swanbeck
- Format: PAL, Widescreen, Dolby, Surround Sound
- Language English
- Subtitles: English
- Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9 - 1.77:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Classification: 15
- Studio: Odyssey Video
- DVD Release Date: 13 Jun 2005
- Run Time: 88 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B0009F68BG
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 30,490 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Bob, Larry, and Phil.
Shot essentially in one hotel room, this film very much like the play. The question it asks, among others, is "What is character?"
Young Bob, full of religion and purposeful sincerity, thinks Larry is a shallow marketing shill. Larry thinks Bob is the insincere one: We're all marketing something. Broken Phil thinks... and answers the question about character.
It's not Shakespeare, but still has space enough to make you think too.
Shot essentially in one hotel room, this film very much like the play. The question it asks, among others, is "What is character?"
Young Bob, full of religion and purposeful sincerity, thinks Larry is a shallow marketing shill. Larry thinks Bob is the insincere one: We're all marketing something. Broken Phil thinks... and answers the question about character.
It's not Shakespeare, but still has space enough to make you think too.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Life can be bad, good or indifferent. It's only as you look at it.In this film life it represented by business or sales, and for sale you need the big client, in this case, the Big Kahuna. At an hotel are also three salesmen, people many of us thinks are worrying and superficial. But they go to demonstrate they are more than these: they represents three different ways of understanding sales and furthermore of seeing at life because they have different ages and experiences. The older played by Danni de Vito is tired, recently divorced and prone to drink. The younger is inexperienced, importunely religious and narrowminded. Larry, the third, played by Kevin Spacey is a dynamic experienced salesman and a close friend of the older, but he can’t do alone all the work. As the others he’s neither interested in what he sells, but he does like to sell. His product are lubricants but nobody are interested in these. The Big Kahuna, a mature man that we can suspect is also some tired of business, doesn’t carry his identity card at the convention, so he’s not recognized by the two experts as they don’t know him physically and by hazard, he coincides with the inexperienced young so, the business depends on himself but professionally he fails in driving the conversation all the evening only about Jesus. When the others know what happened, Larry explodes as the young doesn’t understand why he has done wrong. They treat to keep in mind of the young there are in life moments for spirituality and for oneself, but the convention isn’t one of these: they are here for work and sales and in not doing it, he’s not as good as he thinks of himself, but a fraud. There are, summing up, a complete study of characters, about life, about freedom of beliefs and about what, when and when not you must do your work ad when you can permit to be oneself, ad how to sell without let to be oneself. Excellent drama and actuations.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
69 reviews
45 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Quiet brilliance
1 Dec 2001
Format:DVD
This movie is essentially a filmed play. I won't waste time discussing the plot, which is already well-covered by other reviews. DeVito and Spacey turn out great performances, as can be expected. Spacey dons his usual sharp tongue to play Larry, while DeVito steps out of his typical obnoxious wiseguy skin to play Phil, a quiet man unsure about his life and spirituality. The surprise here is Peter Facinelli, a young Tom Cruise look-alike (humorously alluded to in a scene where his character imagines himself tending bar, a la "Cocktail") who holds his own against the two venerable veterans. He plays a young, idealistic and deeply pious newcomer to the business scene, Bob. Other critics have described him as arrogant, but he's not--his religious convictions simply run so deeply he honestly can't understand those who disagree with him. The abrasive and vulgar Larry provides Bob with a sort of guilty fascination; Larry is clearly brilliant, but is just as clearly not a church-goer. The film finds a believable and gripping tone with which to question faith and spirituality, and concludes that all three men are spiritual in their own way: Larry finds meaning through his job, Bob through Christ, and Phil lies somewhere inbetween, tired of the charade of his career but unsure how to continue. DeVito has the two most powerful scenes. In the first, he bares his heart to Larry, reminiscing about a poignant, haunting childhood dream. In the second, he lectures Bob, reminding him that he hasn't lived enough to be so sure of himself. You don't have to be religious or deeply spiritual to enjoy this film, only thoughtful. "The Big Kahuna" is a succinct, quiet, and surprisingly affecting film.
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
An underrated classic
2 April 2001
Format:DVD
I'm not an intellectual or a serious film buff by any stretch of the imagination; I've never seen an Orson Wells film and I can't wax philosophical for six hours about what makes a movie "good". I'm willing to admit that "good" and "bad" are subjective, matters of opinion. I can say, though, that it's a shame that more movies like The Big Kahuna aren't made--movies that are driven by characters and dialogue rather than hackneyed story lines.
This play-based indie flick centers around three disheartened lubricant salesmen holed up in a hospitality suite, where they discuss everything from marriage and business to spirituality and God. That's the basic plot in a nutshell. Lesser actors could've ruined the film, but pros like Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito make it shine. Spacey in particular, whose career started on the stage, makes the most of his role and creates one of the wittiest and most memorable characters I've seen in a long time. With the simplest premise, this movie has a lot to say about society and the human condition in general. It's intelligent without trying to be, and that's what makes it great.
29 of 32 people found the following review helpful
The Clever Kahuna
6 Oct 2000
Format:DVD
Moviegoers as a whole are so used to films consisting of big budgets,computer special f/x, loud extravaganzas that when something intellectually stimulating comes along they don't recognize it even if it bites them in the bum (including myself).The film-going or video-watching community is so inundated with large sounds and visuals that we often miss some of the most powerful or food for thought dialogue in films like the Big Kahuna.Whether there is one message or many messages to derive from on the meaning of life the great thing about the Big Kahuna is that there is never a dull moment of dialogue or conversation. Kevin Spacey delivers a great and genuine performance as well as DeVito. The fantasy/imagination scenes are some of the most comical seen in any movie for quite some time. My favorite quote or dialogue from any scene is between Spacey and Facinelli about seeing what the young business man can bring to the table, "You'll never know unless you throw me in the water and see if I can swim." Spacey's character replies,"You're missing the point. We're going to throw you off the cliff and see if you can fly!..."Also, Devito's monologue speech about his dream or nightmare he had as a child of God hiding in the closet is classic.The added plus is that this movie does not drag to 2-2 1/2 hours.It's 90 minutes with a clear message;Be human and make the most of your life---not very profound, but still a great message ! In the end of this film you wonder if the title of the film is referring to Spacey's character, the wealthy corporate business man they are trying to lure for their lubricant product, or God...
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