The Big Kahuna: Critic Reviews

The Big Kahuna is hardly more than a sketch or curtain-raiser.

It makes exactly the point that is the opposite of the point it thought it was making: Acting isn't enough.

It's no meal, but it'll tide you over.

The performances are first-rate, particularly that of DeVito as The Big Kahuna's version of Willy Loman.

A well-acted if very stagy adaptation of Roger Rueff's play Hospitality Suite, The Big Kahuna offers lessons that might apply quite nicely to Arthur Miller's pathetic pavement pounder.

Kahuna has great acting and sizzling dialogue.

Sometimes good, or even almost-great acting, isn't enough.

The destination is well worth the sometimes baffling and tedious journey.

Definitely worth a look.

Despite my reservations about Spacey's performance, the film is generally very well acted.

It's smart, funny and insightful and it's quite easy to see what attracted the stars to it.

If you're prepared to accept an inherent staginess that gradually fades as the film progresses, you can become caught up in a drama of extraordinary power and insight.

Giving actors a chance to act seems to be the point...

At our best, we admit our faults. And we admit that others, no matter how different, have something to teach us. What a surprising thing to learn from a film.

...worth watching just for the performances...

You get the feeling that The Big Kahuna would be great in-the-round theater, its ambiguous machinations benefiting from feeding off of a live audience. As filmed, however, it's just three characters waiting for a story.

Depicts how the ardent Christian faith of a true believer compels his two associates to probe their own ideas and ideals.

There's nothing actively wrong with The Big Kahuna, it simply feels more appropriate at a community theatre rather than the local multiplex.

Yes, it feels like a stage play, but it's a pretty interesting stage play.

Support this kind of filmmaking.

Rather thin, derivative, obvious stuff, invigorated only by the quality of performance.

Facinelli is excellent.

Spacey and DeVito are at the top of their game.

Kahuna falters in its attempts at profundity or dynamic social commentary.

Not exactly the most promising jumping-off point for an exciting, thought-provoking drama, but that's exactly what the film evolves into.