Kevin Spacey followed his Oscar-winning turn in American Beauty with this more personal project, which he also produced. He plays one of a trio of salesmen who have gathered at an anonymous hotel suite for a convention. Spacey, all hyperactive bluster, is determined to secure a major client - the Big Kahuna of the title. However, it's the new boy on the team, Peter Facinelli, who may hold the key to capturing the elusive prize. Very much in the style of Glengarry Glen Ross (in which Spacey had a supporting role), this claustrophobic drama struggles to shake-off its stage origins. However, Spacey delivers a bravura performance and he is more than matched by Danny DeVito, who carves out a turn of understated melancholy as Spacey's world-weary partner.

Three salesmen working for a firm that makes industrial lubricants are waiting in the company's "hospitality suite" at a manufacturers' convention for a "big kahuna" named Dick Fuller to show up, in hopes they can persuade him to place an order that could salvage the company's flagging sales.