MovieChat Forums > The Big Kahuna (2000) Discussion > Why does no one get that Phil is sleepin...

Why does no one get that Phil is sleeping with Larry's wife?

posted 18 years ago by CaptThorpe
76 replies | jump to latest

I keep reading through all these (admittedly poignant) threads about this film's themes of God and experiencing life and the like, but no one seems to understand the entire basis for Phil's depression, and the entire reason he brings up a conversation regarding regret with Bob.

Phil is sleeping with Larry's wife. At the end, when he answers the phone and says "No, you just missed him," he's talking about Larry. And the last thing he says before he hangs up is "I love you too."

The film, to me, is less about man's search for God than it is about our consistent battle with our frail, flawed human existences in the face of such an inescapable concept as "God." And it's pretty much summed up in that final exchange on the phone, I feel, in conjunction with Phil's conversation with Bob.

Anyway, great film, great play, great work all around.

[–] ChuckTaylor 18 years ago

That's a wild synopsis. I've seen this movie a dozen times and that never even occured to me. Now I feel like Sam Jackson in The Negotiator when Spacey tells him that Shane dies at the end of "Shane". Weird, wild stuff.

[–] MACKTruck81 18 years ago

I thought it was Larry on the phone asking if Bob was there, so he could apologize to Bob. I also thought it was Larry because of the conversation he and Phil had, that led to Phil asking Larry if he loved him. Not like gay love but platonic I think.
But that definately was something that I overlooked, the adultury part at least.

[–] remotedemon 18 years ago

i am convinced that is was Larry calling to talk to Bob and then he told Phil he loved him (as a friend)

Phil is not the type of man who would sleep with Larry (who is his best friend by leaps and bounds) wife.

What awaits each person in heaven is eternal bliss, divine rest and 10.000 dollars in cash -Cartman

[–] Emanuel_5 15 years ago

Macky...that was exactly what I think as well for the reasons you put forth. There is nothing to my knowlege in the film that would lead me to believe any of the guys are involved with the others' wives sexually....rediculous!

[–] ruddyuni 15 years ago

I agree. What a really blind view to take on one of the key moments in the whole film. To immediately assume that because he said "love" it has to be someone of the opposite sex on the end. The OP has set himself up for a really hard time with this bold thread post!

"When a defining moment comes along, you define the moment or the moment defines you" - Tin Cup

[–] hodie 11 years ago

Right. It is just Phil and Larry talking on the phone at the end.

"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"

[–] Hythlodaeus 14 years ago

Yeah, MackTruck, I think your answer is correct but the OP brings up a good point - intersting thought.

What hump?

[–] ms_jade_li 18 years ago

holy sh*t. I just watched the movie and totally didn't get that part of it. Now that you say it though, everything falls into place. I was impressed with it before. It's jacked up a few more notches now.

[–] dagsblondie1 18 years ago

Mack Truck and Remote Demon are right - it's Larry calling to speak with Bob, and the "I love you, too" is a continuation of Phil's earlier question to Larry. There is no adultery with Larry's wife in Phil's rethinking of his life. How the initial threader ("Captain" something) could come up with that thought simply shows that he wasn't listening when Phil was talking with Larry and asked if he loved him. (Platonically, as another human being, not in any sexual way. As we 'love' someone despite their flaws and glitches and irritations because their greater character - in Larry's case to Phil, honesty -shines through.)

[–] ms_jade_li 18 years ago

dagsblondie1 wrote:

Mack Truck and Remote Demon are right - it's Larry calling to speak with Bob, and the "I love you, too" is a continuation of Phil's earlier question to Larry. There is no adultery with Larry's wife in Phil's rethinking of his life. How the initial threader ("Captain" something) could come up with that thought simply shows that he wasn't listening when Phil was talking with Larry and asked if he loved him. (Platonically, as another human being, not in any sexual way. As we 'love' someone despite their flaws and glitches and irritations because their greater character - in Larry's case to Phil, honesty -shines through.)

My first thought was that it was Larry, answering Phil's earlier question too. But having it be Larry's wife, Phil's lover, also makes perfect sense. Remember when Larry was talking with Bob, about through all of his years on the road he never once cheated on his wife? The call could tie into that part as well.

I guess it depends on how you want to perceive it. That's what makes for a good movie. Everything isn't fed to you in a neat package. As intelligent as the dialogue is in this film, having an open-ended question for debate makes sense.

ms lisa

[–] inquist2000 12 years ago

It doesn't fly for me that it would be Larry's wife and that Phil would be having an affair with her... it would really ruin his own speech on honesty and character with Bob after Larry Left... Larry never cheated on his wife, and there doesn't seem to be that sense of stryfe that would come from a friend screwing around with his friend's wife. Phil going through his own depression with his current or pending divorce doesn't lead credance to him being wanting to risk his great friendship with Larry over his wife.

Im just not seeing it.

[–] Ikari9 12 years ago

I don't see where or how people draw the conclusion that he is sleeping with Larry's wife. The film is about the masks people wear and the avoidance of real connection we all either hide from or make but then potentially ruin due to our flawed nature. To draw conclusions in something as dramatic and vast as he had an affair with Larry's wife is just not possible. There's not nearly enough hinting, suggesting, or otherwise leading you to that conclusion so essentially all you're doing is making it up. Kind of like saying Teddy in Shutter Island really was drugged simply because it's convenient to say so regardless of the lack of plot suggesting it's actual the case.

The phone call is very clearly a reference to their previous conversation.

[–] CwS-2 18 years ago

Why would Larry's wife call and ask if Larry is still there? They are getting divorced. Also, how would she know where to call? The only one who called home was Bob. I don't see Phil as the type to sleep with Larry's wife, and if he did and Larry was depressed over it, he wouldn't act like he does to Phil, I'd assume they wouldn't speak. I love the idea but I think you totally overthought this one.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] LadyJaneGrey 17 years ago

It's not Larry (Spacey) and his wife who are getting divorced, it's Phil (DeVito) and his wife who are divorcing, so it's not out of the question that Larry's wife might be calling. However, it is more likely she'd call his private hotel room and not the business suite at 2 in the morning.

And I agree with most others, I thought it was Larry on the phone calling to apologize to Bob one more time, finding he was gone, and expressing his (platonic) love for Phil.

Future events such as these will affect you....in the future!

[–] rabbits888 18 years ago

hey capt thorpe, your theory its just so stupid. i mean why the hell would you think that that was larry's whife on the phone?!

that was larry, and he asked phil if bob was still there, so phil told him something like "no, u just missed him", and then, about the hole "i love you too" thing... hello!! that was his response to larry because larry probably left thinking about that conversation he had a few hours ago whith phil, so he called him to say he loved him.. because when they were having dinner he never actually responded.

[–] blank089 18 years ago

It's an interesting theory, but I don't think it really makes the movie any better. To me it's a better ending if it's Larry on the phone.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] spin-fu 18 years ago

umm, i'm gonna go ahead and rule out that the caller was larry's wife. i'm not even sure if the original poster was serious. i find it hard to believe that he/she could have been serious.

if they were serious, then they don't know the rules of movies. they're not written down, but most people instinctively know them. anyway, one of those rules is you don't throw some totally new character into the ending of a film and change the entire tone, dirction, and message.

i have no idea how the original poster came up with this idea and i think it's ridiculous. and i don't think it makes a movie better if people can misinterpret what happens. it's good when there is more than one opinion on what something means...but not when there is more than one opinion on what actually happens. that scene wasn't even debateable. it was obviously larry on the phone, he obviously wanted to apologize to bob. he felt bad about the entire evening and he wanted to put it behind him.

it was demonstrating how larry is a man of character because he already regrets what happened, only five minutes later. bob still doesn't regret it a whole day later.

[–] DesertViking 18 years ago

I just watched this again, because the captain's idea got me thinking. I would like to add my voice to those who believe that it is Larry, not his wife, who calls Phil, and to whom Phil says:

"Hello... No he's... you just missed him... What's that?...I love you, too... yeah... "

I think the notion that it is Larry's wife calling is an interesting interpretation, but quite a leap.

Oh, and Shane does NOT die at the end of "Shane"

[–] rastao-iiii 18 years ago

I've only seen this once, last week on IFC, so I can't watch it again. Can anyone drinking thorpe's kool-aid present concrete evidence that Larry and Phil live in the same town, or any reasonable proximity that could/would facilitate such an affair?

For all we know, these guys may only meet at these conventions, and if they don't like the conventions, why bring their wives along?

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Rick Hinson 17 years ago

It's Larry on the phone. All intelligent stories are about characters changing, (On rare occasions it is the fact that they don't change which is significant). This story is about Larry changing. His cynical simple view of the world runs into Bob who has a completely different and passionate view of things. Where Larry has no beliefs, Bob has deep;y held beliefs. And Larry is also colliding with Phil who is in the process of changing, losing his wife has led him to question what is important in life. Larry interacts with these two, and finally begins to change, He realises that he does love Phil (as a friend), something he had never even considered before.

And for the record Shane is dying at the end of the movie. All classic heroes are fatally injured in the final battle, check out Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces", and Shane is definately a classic Hero.

[–] gumborific 17 years ago

Wow, that's a stretch. Maybe, they killed Kennedy too.

I think we all could have spent our time doing something else other than watch this movie. That........is not a stretch.

"With our wings that bark, flashing teeth of brass, standing tall in the dark" - David Bowie

[–] willthethrilldirector 17 years ago

I do not think it was Larry's wife.

but...

It never said why Danny Devito's (forgot his name) wife divorced him. So that might be a reason.

And...

To the people saying they do not think Danny Devito's character would do that, I would like to add in that during the whole film, Larry kept saying that he was not acting like himself, meaning that we do not know who the "real" Devito is.

I know this sounds like I don't know what I'm talking about, becuase I don't know Danny Devito's characters name, but I just don't want to copy this, press back, check, press foward, then paste.

[–] willthethrilldirector 17 years ago

His name was Phil!

Which was the same name he had as the goat guy in Hercules.

[–] gumborific 17 years ago

people are reading too much into these characters. It's a crappy movie.

"In our wings that bark, flashing teeth of brass, standing tall in the dark" - David Bowie

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]