The Big Kahuna (1999) Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, Peter Facinelli Movie Review

The Big Kahuna (1999)   2/52/52/52/52/5

Certificate

15

Length

90 mins

Genre

Director


Kevin Spacey in The Big Kahuna (1999)

Failed to Hook Me

At a major convention, salesmen Larry (Kevin Spacey) and Phil (Danny DeVito) are there with Bob (Peter Facinelli) a fresh young trainee there to observe and learn from these two veterans. And these two veterans have on big fish in their sight, the big deal which will make their years. But the night takes a strange turn when it is Bob who connects with the client and that causes Larry a huge issue as Bob has strong religious beliefs and doesn't shy away from discussing them which annoys Larry no end.

I guess I am having an off day as "The Big Kahuna" is my third movie of this hot Saturday and each movie has failed to entertain with one being just bad, the other too arty and then this. Now I am not a fan of minimal stage plays which get turned in to movies, I just don't find dialogue heavy interactions between a small number of characters in mainly one location that entertaining. And that is what you get in "The Big Kahuna", almost a fly on wall in this hotel room at a convention where we are privy to the conversations of these salesmen with one of the veterans debating whether it is time to call it a day.

But whilst "The Big Kahuna" didn't entertain I have to say that the acting of Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito made it just about bearable. It comes down to experience and these two actors are gifted when it comes to delivering dialogue, understanding the power of a slight change in volume and speed to bring out not just the character of the person they are playing but the significance of the dialogue. As such whilst "The Big Kahuna" failed to hit my button as entertainment it was enjoyable as a spotlight on two veterans and in fairness a young Peter Facinelli playing it young and nervous.

What this all boils down to is that "The Big Kahuna" didn't work for me and it is simply down to not being a huge fan of minimal stage productions which is what this is effectively is. But the skill of the actors involved makes it bearable even when you are finding the dialogue a little hard going.


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