The golden age of the Farrelly-brothers

Rating: 7/10 (21 September 2005)

I liked the Farrelly brothers for a while. If it was something they knew it was how to make comedy that was sometimes downright nasty, but still with so much heart and love for their characters. Lately they've lost that touch (as well as almost all the other qualities they had), but this movie is still one of my favorites from their golden age.
Actually i would rate this as their best film along with "Something About Mary" which says a lot. The story in Kingpin is nothing spectacular, but the actors all seem to enjoy themselves. Randy Quaid is awesome as the unwilling bowling Amish, Woody Harrelson great as his con-man manager and finally Bill Murray is as usual brilliant as the antagonist. Just like most of the work from the Farrelly-brothers this movie constantly uses cheap tricks and nasty comedy to get laughs from the audience. Often below the belt, often mean, but always with a tongue-in-cheek that makes it work.
When it comes to the combination bowling and comedy, this is number one next to "The Big Lebowski". Silly, sure, but also very very funny. And seeing this movie today almost brings a tear to my eye when i think about the huge and disastrous failures that are "Stuck On You" and "Shallow Hal". I rate this 7/10.