Kingpin


Starring: Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, Vanessa Angel, Bill Murray, Chris Elliot
Directed by: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Iowa bowling champion Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson) got involved with a shady bowler (Bill Murray) and some rough gamblers, and as a result, had his bowling hand chopped off. Fifteen years later, Munson stumbles upon a talented Amish bowler (Randy Quaid). He decides to mentor the young bowler, and enter him in a bowling championship in the western U.S. Along the way, they meet hilarious problems, and pick up a sexy business partner(Vanessa Angel). Now the three friends must pull all their intelligence together to overcome the obstacles in their way, win the bowling tournament- and the million dollar prize.

Review:

Tim: The Farrelly brothers follow up to Dumb and Dumber as well as There's Something About combines the slapstick hilarous comedy we've come to expect with some new faces with a plot that involves bowling. This in itself is hilarious. The film is funny- not overwhelmingly funny, but I'll admit I laughed harder and louder than I have in a very long time.

The film does have some gross-out humor (the scene after Harrelson has sex with his landlord comes to mind), but blends that with regular, witty, fun humor that is clean enough for... most people. The film does have its memorable and unique comedy scenes, many of which you simply have to see for yourself.

Randy Quaid is teriffic as the Amish bowler, Ishmael. Harrelson is forced to play some scenes straight and serious, but pretty much everything Quaid does is downright hilarious. He is the perfect naive yet moralistic man, and when he ventures away from what you'd expect an Amish person to do- you find yourself laughing and quite amused. Perhaps my favorite scene with Quaid is the frozen look on his face after riding in the back seat after they escape from Vanessa Angel's boyfriend's house. I watched the scene four times because I could not get through it without nearly crying from laughing so hard. Pay attention to his face- it is priceless.

I haven't seen much of Vanessa Angel's work, but I must say I'm quite impressed. She is obviously incredibly hot, but perhaps her most attractive feature is her intelligence. Instead of the typical hot dumb model, she possesses an intelligence that you rarely find matched with beauty. Her performance was great. I especially loved the scene where they three newfound business partners start hustling bowlers, with Angel providing an appealing distraction in some very tight clothes. In the scene where she's dressed in red... my god, she is simply stunning. It was quite awe-inspiring, and definitely worth another look.

The bad guy of the film, Bill Murray, was hard for me to fathom. When I think of Murray, I think loveable comedian who has a carefree attitude about him. I couldn't picture him as a ruthless (but funny) selfish bowler. While Murray is quite funny in the film (his dance routines after strikes in the championship game cracks my shit up), he isn't that great of a bad guy. You find yourelf wishing he was Phil from Groundhog's Day, or Peter from Ghostbusters. Regardless, he does a good job.

Comedy fans, you simply have to see this film. You'll see some new scenes with comedy unlike you ever thought you'd see. The film isn't perfect, but it is guaranteed to make you laugh. Enjoy this one, guys!

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: There's Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber, EDtv, Groundhog's Day, Ghostbusters, The Thin Red Line