IMDb RATING
6.0/10
4.3K
YOUR RATING
John Person is an actor with little work, and no money, who suddenly finds himself with an opportunity to make some quick cash by delivering a suitcase to the middle of nowhere.John Person is an actor with little work, and no money, who suddenly finds himself with an opportunity to make some quick cash by delivering a suitcase to the middle of nowhere.John Person is an actor with little work, and no money, who suddenly finds himself with an opportunity to make some quick cash by delivering a suitcase to the middle of nowhere.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaArne's Royal Hawaiian Motel, where John Person resides for most of the movie, is a real business; or at least was at the time of filming in 2003. In 2009 it was officially closed. As of 2018 it is abandoned, but still standing, with it's original signs. The area still holds the sparse, lonely, western ambiance and cinematography that contributed so much to the film.
- GoofsDespite all the drinking John and Ruthie do, the amount of booze left in the bottle never goes down.
- Quotes
John Person: No, Dan, I'm waiting to deliver a mysterious suitcase to a hooker-killing cowboy who's supposed to give me $27,000. On top of that I've got my neighbor's head in a bowling ball bag under my sink.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Featured review
One of the Finest of the Weird and Beautiful
I've just read a slew of reviews of this film. People really hate this movie and to be honest, I don't understand why. In The Big Empty, Jon Favreau plays an out of work actor who is hired/blackmailed by his landlord/neighbor (Bud Cort, aka Harold, of Harold and Maude) to deliver a briefcase to a Cowboy in the wastelands of Central California.
He is reluctant, but has nothing better to do. He heads out, leaving Joey Lauren Adams in a neighboring apartment without any shoes. As he wanders through a stark, Bakersfieldian landscape seeking solace, and a violent Englishman in full-agg-hetero cowboy regalia, he is accosted by eldritch horrors, unspeakable fornications, vicious chainsaw wielding savages, and Frasier's Kelsey Grammar. Eventually, the weirdness stacks up until his disturbingly over-sized head is viciously exploded and his torso becomes a giant bowling ball. ...wait, that's not right. It's close though. This movie IS quirky and original. Don't let the naysayers fool you with their saying of nay. In this fine piece of cinema we encounter many elements that we've seen before, but they are cobbled together into a funny and cruel shoeful of surrealist whackiness. I laughed and was temporarily dumbstuck by the shear unpredictability of it all. The cast does a fine job, and should be given waffles and fine international syrups. If you're the type of person who is afraid of movies that you can't figure out in the first five minutes (or at all), go back to the DaVinci Code. You are not ready. --S.Casey Faulkner
He is reluctant, but has nothing better to do. He heads out, leaving Joey Lauren Adams in a neighboring apartment without any shoes. As he wanders through a stark, Bakersfieldian landscape seeking solace, and a violent Englishman in full-agg-hetero cowboy regalia, he is accosted by eldritch horrors, unspeakable fornications, vicious chainsaw wielding savages, and Frasier's Kelsey Grammar. Eventually, the weirdness stacks up until his disturbingly over-sized head is viciously exploded and his torso becomes a giant bowling ball. ...wait, that's not right. It's close though. This movie IS quirky and original. Don't let the naysayers fool you with their saying of nay. In this fine piece of cinema we encounter many elements that we've seen before, but they are cobbled together into a funny and cruel shoeful of surrealist whackiness. I laughed and was temporarily dumbstuck by the shear unpredictability of it all. The cast does a fine job, and should be given waffles and fine international syrups. If you're the type of person who is afraid of movies that you can't figure out in the first five minutes (or at all), go back to the DaVinci Code. You are not ready. --S.Casey Faulkner
helpful•3715
- scfaulkner
- Jan 13, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- El gran destino
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 34 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content