In the tradition of sales culture plays like Death of a Salesman and thinkin' about stuff plays like Waiting for Godot, The Big Kahuna focuses on three men wating for a big client to make their trip to a dreary Wichita hotel worth while. Based on the play Hospitality Suite, The Big Kahuna takes place almost entirely in the one room of the hospitality suite the men rented to hold their company's reception. Larry (Spacey) is a middle-aged hot shot who desperately needs the account of Dick Fuller--the big Kahuna--to prove his worth. Phil (Danny DeVito) is an old pro in marketing--the new name for white collar sales--whose failures have left him tired and reflective. Bob (Peter Facinelli, a teen movie staple) is a young pup from research. He lives straight--no drinking, smoking or strip clubs--and horrifies his colleagues when its revealed that he is a salesman after all: he sells Jesus to everyone he comes into conversation with.

Because of its stagy beginnings, Kahuna has a very stagy feel. Some of the conversation has the over-written feel of a community theater production. The words are almost visible, which pulls the viewer out of the movie. Scenes outside the room seem to be solely movie inventions. The actors speak no dialogue in these scenes, which adds to the self-conscience, drama club feel.

Though Kahuna can't break out of the play format, it acts the hell out of it. DeVito turns in a better performance than any in recent memory. His performance is touching and sad. Facinelli plays his first grown up but retains a necessary blandness that makes him appear like a baby next to these men. His scenes with DeVito are quiet and smart. The two men are an excellent contrast of wisdom and youth. 

Spacey does in this movie what he does in all movies: he fills the screen. He consistently shines 15 watts brighter than any other actor on the screen. His presence seems to brighten the performances of those around him as well. Spacey is not just liked, he is well liked by a camera which follows him like an infatuated fan. DeVito and Spacey play long time business partners as in love with each other as any married couple--and in love in the same way for the same reasons as many an old married couple. The men have been through a normal life filled with all the normal shitty misfortune and have come to depend on the other for sanity. There is something beautiful about the idea that deeply ordinary work can create extraordinary friendship.

Kahuna's real contribution to the realm of sales-themed literature is the view it offers into the heart of men who have spent varying parts of their life in the corporate world. The Big Kahuna shows the inner life of the company man and suggests that there might just be a soul in the minions of marketing after all. 

-Amy Diaz