The Big Kahuna started out as a play and is very theatrical in as much as almost the whole movie takes place in one room. This isn't a weakness though because the story and dialogue really holds the attention. It's mostly a comedy but for the last half hour it's very dramatic and has some very nice observations about life and religion. All three lead actors are uniformly good. There are two things in the film that maybe didn't work so well: the fantasy sequence where the three characters imagine what they'd like to have happen that evening (except for Danny Devito's fantasy. I won't spoil it). It distracts from the rest of the film and is actually a bit trivializing. Presumably this wasn't in the play. And, personally, I don't think the song at the end quite worked. Otherwise, however, there's literally nothing to complain about. You really get to know the characters and appreciate them as human beings. This is one of my favorite films.
Review of The Big Kahuna
