Kingpin
Many of the great sports comedies as weāve seen prefer to go straight for the big laughs, opting out of story or emotion or even the complexities of the sport itself as long as it makes the viewer roll in the aisles with hilarity. But occasionally a sports comedy will come along that actually contains its own fair share of a little something called HEART, and this 1996 release by The Farrelly Brothers has just that, as these acknowledged kings of gross out humor manage to not only include among the tasteless gags, offensive bits of humor, and politically incorrect moments a story that somehow comes across as inspiring like only the best dramatic sports movies could, telling the oft told tale of an underdog who comes back from being on the bottom and works his way back to the top of his sport. The sport in question here is that of bowling, not exactly the most well known or glamorous (or high paying) pursuit, although the Farrellys make it look like a blast in many ways to be a part of on the professional level. To say that this is The Greatest Bowling Movie Ever Made is an understatement, though some would clear their throats and proclaim The Big Lebowski to be just that, but they would be incorrect, as Lebowskiās characters were amateur āleague playersā so to speak, and the bowling in the movie itself was used merely as a metaphor for life along with that movieās much larger themes. This movie is more about the ins and outs of the SPORT itself, and the not exactly larger than life stature of even its greatest players, as bowling has always had very few if any household names ever in its ranks, a reality reflected by an early scene in the movie where we see two pro players, knowing full well that average people in any old bowling alley would never recognize their faces, run a hustle where they pretend to be āregular peopleā while they fake getting drunk and then declare that theyāll take on anybody in the place on their own lanes for big money in order to supplement the usually meager income they make from the Pro Tour. But sometimes things can go bad, as it does for our main character, Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson), when after cheating a bunch of rednecks whom have discovered that heās a ringer, shove his hand into a ball dispenser and cause it to be grinded off at the wrist. Over a decade later, Munson is a broken down, drunken loser, and it really says a lot for an actor of Harrelsonās caliber to play it down to be as ugly as humanly possible, and also to do it for laughs. Despite sporting an ugly chrome dome, possibly prostetic fat beer belly, and ridiculous looking artificial rubber hand, Harrelson gives it his all into making the character goofily likable and funny, even as the script itself makes a habit out of constantly dumping on him, even going so far as to making his own name into an insult, but Harrelson takes it all in stride. The film settles into being a fairly lively spoof of The Color Of Money, as Munson desperately travels from one bowling alley to another trying to sell novelty items (and usually gets cussed out by the owner for doing so), and suddenly hears a thunderous strike out on the lanes, only to discover that it was thrown by a gawky Amish boy played by Randy Quaid, which is amazing to consider that after a 25 year film career at that point and despite being in his mid forties, that Quaid could still play roles where he would be referred to as āthat kidā, just as he was 20 years earlier in The Last Detail, but Quaid still pulls it off convincingly, despite being saddled with a blond Dutch Boy wig. Unimpressed by Munsonās sales pitch, Quaid heads home, only to discover that Munson has āinfiltratedā the Amish people in an attempt to fit in and gain Quaidās trust as now the film mercilessly spoofs Witness as well. When Quaid finally gives in and agrees to go on the road with him headed for a major super tournament in Reno, Nevada, the whole story kicks into high gear, most notably when they play a rich, possible gangster type who becomes violent when he loses before they are saved by the gangsterās girlfriend (Vanessa Angel) who decides to hit the road with them also. Certainly Angel is one of those actresses that can go on almost any list of the most beautiful female stars to never quite make the A list in Hollywood, bringing a sly likability to her turn here even as Munson and the viewer start to wonder if she can actually be trusted by our two heroes. Anyway, the trip continues (but this time with Angelās wiles helping to distract the other bowlers) leading all the way into Reno, for a tournament so respectable that it actually receives national coverage on ESPN. It is there that Munson finally sees who it is heās been waiting to see: Ernie āBig Ernā McCracken (Bill Murray), the so called āMichael Jordan and Muhammad Ali of bowlingā, who was the one that had put Munson up to that hustle all those years earlier and had then betrayed him and left him for dead to those that had taken his hand. While it is rare to see Murray playing a bad guy in a movie, he nonetheless manages to make Big Ern into a smug, arrogant asshole (reportedly not much of a stretch according to some who have met him in real life), bringing a hilariously detestable air to the proceedings, whether it be acting incredibly rude to perfectly nice women whom he doesnāt consider attractive, killing Munson with kindness while buttering him up for the kill, or doing a TV commercial for some sort of charity that sponsors āfatherless householdsā and managing to molest every one of the hot looking single mothers in the ad (in front of their kids) over the course of 30 seconds, Murray brings the bite to the character needed to set up the emotions of the viewer for the big, final showdown, where through a strange twist of fate, it is not Quaid but Munson himself who gets to compete against McCracken, rubber hand and all, and as he progresses through the tournament and starts to gain attention as a nobody Cinderella story giving all the pros a run for their money, the film makes a strange but welcome turn into something truly inspirational, as Munson completes his return and comeback both in the sport he loves as well as life itself. In the end, that rare type of comedy, the kind that manages to be gross and yet uplifting at the same timeā¦
10/10