The Big Kahuna (2000)
Directed by John Swanbeck
Written by Roger Rueff
Starring Kevin Spacey, Danny Devito, Peter Fascinelli
Release Date April 28th, 2000
Published February 2nd, 2002
Will the real Kevin Spacey please come home! I'm talking about the Spacey who portrayed Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects, Lester Burnham in American Beauty and John Doe in Seven. Not the Spacey who was the dour schoolteacher in Pay It Forward, the sanctified crazy in K-Pax or the dull schlub from The Shipping News. The last time we saw the real Kevin Spacey was the three-guys-in-a-hotel-room drama The Big Kahuna.
In The Big Kahuna, Spacey portrays Larry Mann, one of the best industrial lubricant salesman there is. Larry, along with partner and best friend Phil (Danny DeVito), are attending a convention to pitch their industrial lubricants to clients and while they are at it, they teach the business to a new recruit named Bob (Peter Fascinelli).
The film takes place all in one hotel room as the three salesman rehash the nights goings on and their seeming failure to find the big kahuna, the big client they desperately want to sign. As it turns out however, Bob actually did find the big kahuna, but instead of pitching him industrial lubricants they talk about their families and religion. This leads to a philosophical debate about the importance of family and God and what role, if any, they play in business.
Larry is the hardliner married to the job at the expense of everything else. Phil is the would-be family man who longs for the ideals he gave up to be successful. For Bob, each of his two mentors represent two disparate paths, focus solely on work and become successful but lonely or focus on family and give up on the big sales and big money. A far more difficult decision than it seems.
The Big Kahuna doesn't have any big flashy set pieces, no chase scenes or mystery. It is essentially a stage play on film and each of the three actors is given a well-written monologue to explain their character and motivation. I must say what a joy it is to listen to intelligent people carry on intelligent conversation. Especially DeVito, whose calmness and maturity shines a light on what an under-appreciated talent he is.
While Spacey does a good deal of screen chewing in The Big Kahuna, you still get the feeling of watching a real person, he's a salesman so larger than life showboating and grandstanding come with the territory. As for Peter Fascinelli he does a great job of not getting completely blown off the screen by his costars.
