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The Movie:
"The Big Kahuna" certainly offered a number of fine actors, but it was passed over by audiences early this year - a sort of junior "Glengarry Glen Ross", the film is essentially a smaller play adapted for the screen. Taking place in a couple of locations, it relies on dialogue to carry the day, and for the most part, it works.
Anyone who's familiar with business and the business meeting will probably enjoy the film - those who aren't familiar with conventions - whatever industry you might be in, might not find it as sharp. The film revolves around Larry (Kevin Spacey), Phil (Danny Devito) and Bob(Peter Facinelli) have been sent to a Kansas hotel for their lubricant company.
Their mission: to land the account of a major customer, as they like to call, "The Big Kahuna". Most of the movie takes place in their hotel room - the three of them talk back and forth - plan, fire one-liners at each other, talk about the industry and even some funny jokes about the tiny "suite" they've been stuck with.
Spacey and Devito are perfection here and exactly right for their roles. As shown in "Swimming With Sharks", Spacey wraps himself around these slightly mean-spirited lines and throws them at Devito, who is a perfect opposite; it's Spacey at his best. It's a chance for all of these actors, even the newer Facinelli, to go free with the lines and work with the characters. These are great characters too; fully-written and not quite showing all their emotions, as the audience can't quite tell what's a lie, what's "selling".
Many might look at the plot of "The Big Kahuna" and find it looks like a pretty tedious run - 90 minutes in a couple of rooms. It's not always "Speed", but there are enough great lines of dialogue that are delivered with great timing to keep the movie from ever really becoming boring. It's certainly a hard thing to do to stage a movie in a matter of a couple of rooms for the entire length; for the most part, the filmmakers of "The Big Kahuna" have pulled it off well.
The DVD
VIDEO: Universal offers "The Big Kahuna" in it's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and as with most titles from the studio - it's anamorphic. The only thing is that, as with most titles that are co-released by Lion's Gate and Universal("Last Night"), the presentation doesn't seem quite as crisp and smooth as some of the major releases from the bigger studio alone.
Sharpness is generally okay; I didn't feel that it got way too soft or lacked clarity, but I felt as if it could be a touch sharper. Detail is fine and although I thought it was sort of perfect sharpness, it seemed very consistent. Pixelation and shimmering never become apparent, although there are more print flaws that I had expected; nothing major - no scratches or major marks, just speckles here and there.
SOUND: The Universal title music is pretty much the best example of sound that you'll find on "The Big Kahuna". It's mainly a dialogue-driven film, and the only place it slightly expands upon that is in Christopher Young("Rounders", "Hurricane")'s score, which is offered very lightly from the surrounds a handful of times.
That's about the only surround use there is in the film, though - and even that is hardly noticeable. Music is crisp and clear, and dialogue is clean and easily heard. The "play"-like nature of the film is mainly dialogue though; although the audio is basic, there really aren't any opportunities missed.
MENUS:: Extremely basic, non-animated menus that are somewhat on the bland side.
EXTRAS: The film's trailer. That's it.
Final Thoughts: "The Big Kahuna" was passed over in theaters and that's too bad. It's even worse that Universal/Lion's Gate couldn't have put together more of a "special" edition, with some sort of a commentary, at least. Still, "The Big Kahuna" is a good enough movie to be worth a look.
Film Grade
The Film A-
DVD Grades
Video 84/B = (336/400 possible points)
Audio: 83/B = (332/400 possible points)
Extras: 68/D = (204/300 possible points)
Menus: 70/C- = (140/200 possible points)
Value: 80/B- = (240/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1248/1600
DVD GRADE:C/78%
FILM GRADE: A-
DVD GRADE: C
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