2000, R, 90 minutes

Many people tend to dislike films that are adapted from plays, usually because those films tend not to utilize the visual capabilities of cinema. I generally don't have a problem with stage-like movies; as long as the story is entertaining and engaging, I don't care what it looks like. However, The Big Kahuna, despite its ambitious aspirations, fails as both a play and a movie.

Larry (Kevin Spacey), Phil (Danny DeVito) and Bob (Peter Facinelli) are three traveling salesman who work for an industrial lubricants company. Staying in a hospitality suite in Wichita, Kansas, their only mission is to land a contract with an important man with lots of money. After experiencing a severe setback in their mission, they delve into discussions about life, Jesus Christ, love, business and honesty.

The premise for this film is one of those hit or miss situations. It doesn't sound like much, but it had the potential to be somewhat interesting. Unfortunately, the story behind The Big Kahuna is just plain un-engaging, the dialogue is unrealistic and lacks subtlety, and by the end we haven't really learned anything worth the 90 minutes of runtime. When a story attempts to get philosophical, I always like to think of it like this: saying something without actually saying it is much more powerful than a flat-out discussion. Perhaps playwright/screenwriter Roger Rueff should have kept that little tidbit in mind.

On the upside, the one tremendously bright point in this film is the cast. Kevin Spacey is charismatic as always, as is Danny DeVito, and Peter Facinelli is believable as the young, naive, religion-pushing rookie. I have to wonder why veteran actors such as Spacey and DeVito would even appear in this film -- my guess is that they were probably looking for something different.

The Big Kahuna will probably receive some good reviews from other critics, but I can guarantee that the average moviegoer will be bored silly, no matter how big of a fan of Kevin Spacey you are.