Kingpin

Not your typical Farrelly brothers movie, Kingpin is at times ridiculous yet morose – not the long-lasting inanity of There’s Something About Mary, or the disturbing laughter of Me, Myself and Irene, but a quality comedy all the same.

Roy Munson (Harrelson) is a former professional bowler, who, having lost his hand, looks for a way to get some cash. Finding Amish man Ishamel (Quaid) bowling amazing scores, he hatches a plan to win the nationals, and with the help of Claudia (Angel), a woman they encounter on their travels, the two men aim to win the national bowling competition, particularly in beating Ernie McCracken (Murray), the bowler responsible for Munson’s predicament.

Woody Harrelson is the straight man, whilst Randy Quaid is the comedy centre as Amish Ishmael. Bill Murray memorably appears, whilst Vanessa Angel provides the feminine side. Harrelson and Quaid are pretty good here – Harrelson presenting Roy Munson as a damaged but good soul, someone burnt before who trusts nobody. Quaid’s Ishmael is an Amish man, innocent of sinful activities but amazing with a bowling ball. Both men play off each other, Harrelson’s seriousness feeding the playful innocence of Quaid.

Vanessa Angel plays the female foil to the two men, and her attractive looks are comically put to use by Munson to get them more cash. The actress is also convincing enough in the dramatic scenes, but as with many a Farrelly film, she does appear to only be there for looks most of the time. Bill Murray is back to his best as Ernie McCracken, the sleazy rival to Munson and the catalyst for the loss of his arm. Having heard Murray ad-libbed most of his lines, it’s testament once again to the actor’s strength as a comedian that he is still one of the best things about the film.

The brothers Farrelly manage to direct another ridiculous comedy here, but then that’s what they excel at, and here is one of the better examples of such a film. The Farrellys once again mix gross-out humour with stupid laughs, but here there’s a little subtlety to much of the comedy, and counteracting it with the pathetic life of Munson gives the film a slightly more morose edge. As you’d expect with a comedy, there are some great lines, but many of them quite infantile. When they’re good though they are great lines – though nothing much on the soon-to-follow Me, Myself and Irene. The use of live bands and some songs appropriate to the film provide an adequate soundtrack – nothing special or particularly memorable however. The gross-out humour provides much of the visual strength, but the bowling scenes are real and as a result that much more competent than, say, a faked or effects-driven sport comedy.

It’s a funny movie, but one which I think would have appealed to me much more as a child or young teenager – as a twenty-one year old adult, the movie is painfully childish at times, but also a lot more serious than I would have thought possible of the Farrellys.

6/10