BoomerDT
Suppose a screenwriter is pitching this to a studio exec:"Well, it's about 3 salesmen for an industrial lubricant company, in Wichita for a trade show. 2 of them are middle-aged, rather jaded about their occupation and life in general. The third is a new guy, recently married and graduated from college, who is also a devout Christian. Virtually everything takes place in a hotel hospitality suite they rented to entertain clients, specifically to meet 1 important client ("The Big Kahuna") who, if they could secure his business, could turn their struggling company around. The 3 of them discuss what our purpose is in this life and what it all means"Exec: "So do they have this drunken orgy with strippers and get the young guy loaded and caught in a compromising position with a hooker, just when his newlywed wife arrives, having decided to surprise him on his first business trip?""No. It's just the three of them, talking in hospitality suite"Exec: "Well, how about going another direction. Islamic terrorists seize the hotel and will blow it and everyone in the place to smithereens by midnight, unless $100 million dollars is wired to an off-shore account. The mild-mannered Christian turns out to be an ex-Navy seal who thwarts the plot and kills all the terrorists""Uh, no. They just talk, although the Christian guy does shove one of them into a food tray."Kind of hard to see how this got made, but if you get a pair of actors like Spacey and DeVito for the 2/3 of the cast, maybe you can sell it. The smartest thing writer Roger Rueff and director John Swanbeck did was keeping this to 90 minutes, although it probably could have easily just been a 1hour drama. As a person in marketing and sales I found a lot of this very interesting and perceptive. I can also see how many could find this whole thing tiresome and boring.
SnoopyStyle
Two experienced salesman are taking a young guy from the research department under their wing in their hospitality suite. Larry Mann (Kevin Spacey) is a bombastic guy obsessed with landing the big kahuna, a particularly big customer. Phil Cooper (Danny DeVito) is a world wearied veteran. Bob Walker (Peter Facinelli) is a religious kid who is relegated to be the bartender. Unbeknownst to Bob or the other two, Bob strikes up a conversation with the big kahuna but lets him go without giving him a pitch on their industrial lubricant.This is a big juicy part for Kevin Spacey to go off on. However, he's left too much on his own. Danny DeVito is playing down on his energy and much more reserved. It's very much out of his character. After an interesting 3 role first half, the movie turns into a lifeless exchange between Spacey and DeVito. Instead of going off after an interesting start, this movie flattens out into something slightly less. Adapted from a stage play, this never really gets beyond that.
Melissa Mendelson
If we paused for a moment, who would we see? The big man on campus, or a man questioning life? We are all actors in a play, and we know our roles well. But do we want more? Do we wonder if we are living the life that we are supposed to be living? Faith is the guiding light to keep us strong, but dreams leave us dreaming, lost to the confines of this real world. Do we know who we are, and is this all that we would become? If we could let go, accept, would we then be free, free to be who we were meant to be, but then what would wait for us at the end of the road? Life is a funny thing, one that keeps us on our toes, but the one lesson that it will always teach us is never to take things for granted. Life is always changing, and time is pushing us along. But as time marches on, where we were, the mistakes we've made are the threads intertwining, weaving into characterization, and becoming the fabric of our definition, and we are more than we thought, exceeding limitations, and discovering new heights, greater dreams, and a breath of destiny.
Lee Eisenberg
Following his Oscar win for "American Beauty", Kevin Spacey starred in the semi-cynical "Big Kahuna", about three businessmen (Spacey, Danny DeVito, Peter Facinelli) trapped in a Wichita hotel room expecting an important client. The movie has the distinct feeling of a play, with the single room setting and emphasis on dialog. It's certainly got an interesting plot, with its look at the unpleasantness of life for traveling salesmen. However, aside from the strange similarity to his role in "American Beauty", Kevin Spacey also sort of repeats his role from "Glengarry Glen Ross".But don't get me wrong, I thought that the movie was worth seeing. Not any kind of masterpiece, but OK.
AD
