a review by Jeffrey Overstreet
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THREE MEN , THREE PERSPECTIVES, AND ONE BIG CONFLICT
American Beauty won America’s heart. The Big Kahuna slipped past moviegoers almost unnoticed. Too bad. Kevin Spacey is just as good as Larry in Kahuna as he is in his Oscar-winning role as Lester. Not only that, but Kahuna is a movie with a lot more to say, and it does so more effectively.
In American Beauty, Lester, a cynical, mean-spirited father, decides to quit doing what culture and tradition tell him to do. He starts following his feelings instead, and becomes self-centered, reckless, sarcastic, and just plain wicked. In the end, he suddenly discovers moral responsibility, and finds enlightenment. Although this is an abrupt, and inexplicably comprehensive transformation, audiences bought it, for some reason, and Academy voters gave the film Best Picture honors. For a few people, myself included, Lester’s story rang false. Since the movie goaded the audience to enjoy Lester’s irresponsibility right along with him, the spur-of-the-moment lesson at the end did not resonate.
Larry, Spacey’s character in The Big Kahuna, is just as mean-spirited, or worse. And yes, he does have something to learn. But he learns it in a more believable fashion. He takes one small step, and begins to understand something. It’s not an instantaneous transformation. It’s more like real life.
Larry’s job is his life. And that’s rather depressing. He’s a marketing agent for an industrial lubricants company. He and his fellow agents Phil (Danny Devito) and Bob (Peter Facinelli) are in Kansas for a business meeting, hoping to find some new clients. One in particular (Larry calls him “El Kahuna Grande) is their prize target, a man who would represent the biggest client in the history of their company. It is their goal…yea, Larry’s all-consuming quest…to make the Big Kahuna sign on the dotted line. His determination make him intolerable company.
Phil spends most of his time coaching Bob on how to deal with Larry. He been working with Larry for years, and he sees right away that Bob is naive, idealistic, and just the kind of fool that Larry likes to tear into pieces.
Bob spends most of his time trying to balance out Larry’s foul-mouthed arrogance with optimism and… yes… evangelism. Bob is a young, bold conservative Christian. He’s far more interested in witnessing about the Gospel than getting anybody to sign a business contract.
This behavior brings out the worst in Larry. And as the evening wears on with no sign of “the Big Kahuna’s” arrival, tempers flare.
What transpires is very intense. It’s remarkable how lively and interesting the film is, considering that it takes place in one room. This detail will lead many to conclude that it must have previously been a play, and yes, it was. The whole film feels more like a stage play, partly because of the confined spaces, partly because of the characters’ tendency to step out of natural dialogue into long monologues. This does hurt the film. I found myself yearning to get out of that room and go for a walk and some fresh air.
But nevertheless, playwright Roger Rueff covers a lot of ground with these characters in a very short time. And director John Swanbeck keeps things lively, giving the camerawork energy and coaching gutsy performances from his talented cast.
Before long, the suspense over whether they will sign the big client becomes a secondary plot. What we really want to know is who will survive this clash of personalities and philosophies?
Larry, in spite of his bombast and assaulting behavior, is clearly a troubled and frightened man. Will he finally push his friend Phil too far? Will he disillusion and destroy “the new guy”, whose optimism and faith embody everything he hates? Is there a shred of decency in this man? Does he love anyone? Maybe, to all of the above. He is beginning to see that the job is not going to lead him to fulfillment. Spacey plays Larry as hard-hearted and sometimes frighteningly cold, but lets just enough humanity glimmer that we might find some compassion for him by the end.
Poor Phil is equally troubled by this going-nowhere vocation. He lacks Larry’s confidence and mean spirit, but he has seen the same hard truth…that this is a dead end pursuit. He’s plagued with regrets and despair. And he’s groping for something meaningful, some kind of salvation from the place he’s in. Danny Devito gives the strongest performance of his career here, making Phil a deeply thoughtful, wounded man who has become a living question mark.
And then there’s Bob. In contrast to Larry and Phil, you might expect Bob to have all the answers, to be the hero that saves his superiors. Or you might expect things to turn bleak and watch him crack under the pressure. Neither will be completely the case. Bob is striving to live by Christ’s teaching, eager to share the gospel with his co-workers, because, as he repeats, “It’s very very important.” But Bob, like most of his species of Christian, has a problem of his own. It’s a problem of perspective, of what I would call “nice superiority”. Facinelli plays Bob perfectly, as a shining-eyed, rosy-cheeked, cherubic amateur, totally unprepared for the reality with which he must soon wrestle.
BIG KAHUNA’s HUMBLING LESSON
Like Bob in The Big Kahuna, Christians are often conditioned to think of the world as an “us/them” world. We can sometimes think of ourselves as the people with the answers. TV evangelism avoids the reality of doubt. It seems to have an answer for everything. Thus Christians often lose any ability to find truth, significance, or wisdom in the perspectives and lives of unbelievers.
This is a dangerous and damaging perspective. To borrow the bumper sticker phrase, “Christians aren’t perfect. Just forgiven.” Actually, I’d alter that. Christians aren’t perfect. They just KNOW they’re not perfect, and that they need help.
We are, all of us, believing and unbelieving alike, sinners. Subject to the same temptations. Victim to many of the same sins. We know regret, confusion, doubt, and frustration. If we deny these things, we become false to ourselves, to God, and to others. Worse…we bring a reputation of “phony” and “self-righteous” to the name of “Christian.” Unbelievers look up on us as people with whom they cannot possibly relate or connect. I am always unnerved by the verse in which Christ says that “many will come in My Name and deceive many.” That, I fear, is me.
I was brought up in a Christian home, went to a Christian school, always attended church, and never knew what it was like to live in “the world” until after college. Now, I have found that my most sincere, honest, and trustworthy friends are often unbelievers, because so many of my believing friends reached a point where they only spoke in the “lingo” of contemporary American evangelicalism. I and many of my Christian friends came to focus our lives on “reaching the lost”, as though we were now free of doubt, free of anger, sometimes even free of sin.
It was when I began to see what people in the world thought of my put-on-righteousness that I realized how inappropriate my behavior had become. I had become a lie, a salesman, incapable of having an honest conversation with the people all around me in the world. It was through the beginnings of honesty and new relationships that real friendships grew. I am now able to talk about my faith AND my doubts, honestly, and as a result, I find I can enjoy the company of just about anyone, and learn much from them. When I watch The Big Kahuna, I see myself in those days of high school and college, thinking I had answers for everything. On paper, in Bible class, yes, I did. But in experience, I had oh so much to learn. And I still do.
The Big Kahuna is ultimately about the need for humility, and for hope. Yes, we can teach each other things. But if we are not open to hear what others have to say, we will not be very welcome to share with others. If we are not willing to face our own weaknesses, we have no place telling others about their own.
At our worst, we are all salesmen… prideful, anxious to push others into seeing things our way. At our best, we admit our faults. And we admit that others, no matter how different or how offensive, might have something to teach us. What a surprising thing to learn from a film. What a very special movie.
I think The Big Kahuna presents these things very truthfully and effectively. And I hope everyone sees it, believer and unbeliever alike.