Kingpin (1996)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Brilliant and touching

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A star bowler whose career was prematurely "cut off" hopes to ride a new prodigy to success and riches.The two big comedies from this team are "Kingpin" and "There's Something About Mary". Both have some gross-out humor, and this one definitely is not afraid of poop, vomit and bull fluids. I could probably do without all that. And this is probably the lesser of the two. It succeeds in making Lin Shaye, a wonderful person, into a horrifying monster.Funny? Yes. And definitely a different sort of role for Randy Quaid. Bill Murray shines (as always). I always feel a little bit weird when Amish folks show up in films because they seem to be the butt of jokes, and they are probably not even aware that people make fun of them.

Kingpin (1996): Dir: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly / Cast: Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, Vanessa Angel, Bill Murray, Lin Shaye: One of the best comedies of 1996. Woody Harrelson plays champion bowler Roy Munson who quests to regain the potential he once had. He was betrayed seventeen years prior, which resulted in his rubber hand. Unable to regain the spotlight, he sets his sights to train an Amish citizen who bowls in secret. They are eventually joined by Vanessa Angel who flees from an abusive relationship. Directed by Peter and Bobby Farrelly who scored big with the very funny Dumb and Dumber but the screenplay here is tighter and much more detailed. It has effective sight jokes but more importantly it has an ending of unpredicted satisfactory. Harrelson plays off the desperation to be a winner and we can sense his pain and regret. Randy Quaid is hilarious as the gullible yet sincere Amish bowler who desires to champion his family during financial crises. Angel plays off toughness with vulnerability as she remains one step ahead of Munson. Bill Murray steals scenes as a competing bowler who betrayed Munson and displays no signs of remorse that isn't met with sarcasm. Lin Shaye makes a hilarious scene stealing cameo as Roy's angry landlord whose methods of payoff leave Munsion puking his guts out in a toilet. Hilarious comedy about restoration stamped with a rubber hand. Score: 10 / 10

This often-amusing piece of trash begins with a scene out of Paul Newman's "The Hustler." Bill Murray sees the latent bowling talent in Woody Harrelson, cultivates it, and they set out hustling small-town rubes. Harrelson pretends to be drunk and is faced with an impossible frame. Everyone bets against him and when he makes the spare, he and Murray split the money. That is, until finally some clot of rubes wakes up to the scam and grinds Harrelson's bowling hand off, while Murray cheerfully speeds off alone.A tragic tale. Harrelson is a real down-and-outer in Baltimore, forced to service his landlady in lieu of the rent. She has a face like Euryale the gorgon and he vomits voluminously after the bout.Then he gets a lucky break. He spots a young man, Randy Quaid, from a neighboring Amish town who has the same talented touch with a bowling ball, and persuades him to take to the road. They hustle their way to the million-dollar championship bowl off in Reno, Nevada, picking up some enemies along the way, not to mention Vanessa Angel. The two final contestants are Harrelson, bowling with his hook instead of his hand, and the egomaniacal Murray.I didn't think it was as inventive as "There's Something About Mary". There is no equivalent of Ben Stiller's arrest at the roadside tea room. Yet it is funny and it gets funnier as it meanders along. Some of the gags are silly and pointless -- the burly Quaid dressed in tights and doing a pole dance. But there's wit in some of the visual gags -- Harrelson bending over a cute baby, making goo goo sounds, and chucking it under the chin with his hook while the mother's eyes bulge with anxiety.And the dialog has its moments too. "You know, you're not the most intelligent person on earth." "Oh, yeah, and who are you, Alfred Einstein?" Then there are the performances, uniformly professional. We'll begin with Vanessa Angel. Yes, let's begin with her. The English-born actress has a mellifluous voice, a little throaty, and is strikingly attractive, a paragon of pulchritude. Oh, yum.Quaid is a large, clumsy actor but his role rather suits him -- the stolid, God-fearing, son of the soil, who takes his first automobile ride and shortly afterwards is taking hits from a long blue bong.Harrelson doesn't exactly have an actor's elocution. He has a weak voice and usually sounds as if he's reading his lines from some off-screen cue card. But he excels at light comedy, especially when the comedy has a slightly deranged quality, as it does here.Murray plays it straight at first but the final confrontation in Reno gives him a chance to unwind. He is absolutely hilarious, seen on television in a parody of one of those ad miseracordiam commercials for "Unified Way". "Little Charlotte here has never eaten a hot dog in her life. She lives in poverty and depends on your donations to keep her alive." Meanwhile, Murray is copping feels from the local mothers and daughters. I laughed out loud when Murray wept with joy at the prospect of beating Harrelson at the championship bowl off.I'm glad we see a little bit of what looks like Reno too. Reno is a pleasant, laid back little city. I've spent many cozy nights there at the elegant Mapes Hotel, sleeping in the lobby.

Bowling legend Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson) loses a hand to a group of drunks after trying to con them with fellow bowler Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray). Now a drunk promoter with a fake rubber hand, Munson is a shadow of his former self until he hears the fateful sound of a strike. Amish prodigy Ishmael (Randy Quaid) stands to be Munson's shot at winning the largest tournament in the country, but the road there is paved with consequence.This is one of the funniest movies ever made. The Farrelly brothers have given us countless laughs, but this is their best. It brings together some of the most unexpected actors, many out of their element in a comedy, to flawlessly turn a script into a comedic work of art. The laughs are typical Farrelly gross out while remaining truly, deeply funny.Woody Harrelson turns in one of his best performances as the down-but-not-out Munson, wearing a ridiculous wig, outdated clothing, and always his fake rubber hand. Each scene he's in is a lesson in how to lead a comedy, and reminds one of his early days on "Cheers" as the bartender Woody Boyd. His co-star in Quaid is the same; whether it be the murderous, greedy Sheriff is "Hard Rain", or here as the hilariously simple sure relative of the "Vacation" movies Cousin Eddie, Randy Quaid proves his ever surprising versatility as an actor.Bill Murray also fires on all cylinders as the over the top McCracken, Harrelson's arch-nemesis. Murray's last scene is one of the best in the movie; with his hair tossed every which way and his eyes flooding with tears he makes you shocked that he's only been nominated for one Oscar. Vanessa Angel is mostly eye candy but she doesn't have to make up for any acting downfalls."Kingpin" is well-casted, well-written, consistently engaging and always funny. It brings together a diverse cast and a great script to make one of the funniest movies of our time. Strike it off your bucket list.