Kingpin

Bill Murray pretty much steals the show every time he's on the screen. He's sleazy, he's smarmy and he's very funny. With that comb-over going nuts at the big game, and his victory dance at the end makes Kingpin that much better. That's not saying that the rest of the film isn't good, it is. Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid and Vanessa Angel make a very odd partnership. An Amish bowling whiz, a one handed ex-bowler, and a very sexy hustler scheme and dream to make it to Reno, but of course they have to beat Big Ern.

I thought this movie was great. It has a fantastic cast made up of Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, and Bill Murray. I agree with other users that this film has not been rated fairly. You simply have to take it for what it's worth, and I personally think it's wonderful!

Woody Harrelson plays Roy Munson, a drunken, former pro-bowler trying with much difficulty to earn a buck. He discovers a young Amish man who may be his ticket back to bowling prestige (if that actually exists). The two bowling hopefuls proceed on a road trip to win the grand prize in a bowling championship in Las Vegas. This movie is truly hilarious! Woody Harrelson does a fantastic job in the role of the sad sack ex-bowler with a rubber hand. He seems to have aged ten years in his portrayal of this character. Bill Murray is his adversary, "Big Ern" McCracken, whose bad toupee seems to have a life of its own. Murray is wonderful in this role with his cocky and pompous attitude. There are certain scenes of his character in a television commercial that are quite literally, marvelous. Finally to finish off this stellar cast we have Randy Quaid as Ishmael, the Naïve Amish man who could quite possibly be the next Bowling legend. I must also mention the gorgeous Vanessa Angel as Claudia. Her character is under developed but she still has the charisma and sex appeal to ignite her scenes.

This movie must be viewed for what it is worth. This means, it is not Oscar material but it is a very funny movie. So watch the film with this in mind and enjoy all the hilarious scenes and great performances.

7/10

I went to see There's Something About Mary and liked it so much that I decided to rent Kingpin for the hell of it. I'll probably get into some heat for saying this, but, I actually liked this one more than Mary. Harrelson, Quaid, Murray, etc. are all funnier than Dillon or Diaz or even Stiller, I think they have a lot more comedic talent than any of Mary's various players. Don't get me wrong though, I liked Mary, I just loved Kingpin. It's a shame that Mary turned out to be the money maker and almost no one's ever heard of this one. I hope that when people go see Mary, they'll do their research on the Farrelly brothers and check this one out. I just have one request to the brothers for their next film, don't hire that Chris Elliot guy, he just really sucks.

Bobby and Peter Farrelly, the directors of "Kingpin" show a great flair for this type of comedy. Not having seen it when it first was released, we were lucky to catch it on cable the other night, and frankly, it proved to be a happy choice. The Farrellys had a good screen play by Barry Fanaro and Mort Nathan to work with, as they showed a talent for assembling a wonderful cast to make this a winning comedy the fun and exciting film it is.

The best thing in the film are Woody Harrelson and Bill Murray. Mr. Harrelson plays Roy Munson, the man who love bowling, but through an unfortunate incident, loses his ability to play the sport he was born to play. Woody Harrelson is wonderful in his portrayal of Munson. Bill Murray's role is much smaller, but he does wonders with it. Best of all is the way we see him at the bowling tournament in Reno with his teased hair in disarray.

The rest of the cast is good. Randy Quaid as Ishmael Boorg, gives a funny reading of his naive character. Also the attractive Vanessa Angel plays the woman who has an interest in the game.

This movie is brilliant. It's about a run down drunk of an ex bowler (Woody Harrelson) who won a state championship almost twenty years ago, but now he's barely making his rent money. He no longer bowls because he's missing his hand...so he's left with nothing but a hook. Thru a series of events, he meets up with Randy Quaid who plays a really stupid Amish guy who happens to be a very good bowler. Eventually they get together for an adventure thru the country, making their way to Reno, Nevada for a bowling championship. The movie is one of the funniest I have ever seen, and Harrelson is hilarious. If you buy the DVD version, it's rated R as opposed to the regular PG13 version, and I must say the R version is better. I think they have 17 mins of added footage on the DVD. A lot of people will see this movie is somewhat gross in spots, but I don't mind it at all, and I think it only goes to make it funnier. Vanessa Angel, who I know from Weird Science the USA series some years ago, is pretty funny in this movie as well. I think it's a gem, and I'd definitely give it a 10/10.