Very clever and rather original slapstick comedy

Rating: 7/10 (19 July 2008)

It's not hard to imagine the kind of comedy you're going to get from a film that combines amateur bowling washouts, rubber prosthetics and the Amish. That's what "Kingpin" delivers: Lots of gags and quirky, dumb characters. Impressively enough, however, the Farrelly brothers make slapstick feel fresh in this film with tons of obscene, crude and even plain old disgusting humor. This not a film for those who find no humor in stupid, for those who do, "Kingpin" is a very enjoyable film.
Woody Harrelson stars as Roy Munson, the 1979 Iowa amateur bowling champion whose life goes south when he gets cheated by Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray) and it costs him his bowling hand. 17 years later he meets Ishmael Boorg (Randy Quaid) in a bowling alley and sees an opportunity to turn his life around. After convincing Ishmael to leave his Amish community, the two set forth for Reno's $1 million bowling tournament, teaming up with Claudia (Vanessa Angel) along the way.
This is a cross-country (Pennsylvania to Reno) comedy adventure where each scene has a bunch of obvious gags, but they're clever (not overused) and usually short and sweet instead of drawn out. That, and the Farrelly brothers also supply some "unspoken" humor like Roy and Ernies' hair flying in several directions throughout the film. So there ends up being a lot to laugh about in this film, which helps a lot with the sort of aimless plot.
Harrelson and Quaid are great in the film, though Billy Murray is the actor who really takes this film to the next level. The film's climax is all about utilizing his talents as a comedian and he helps make an okay scene (the climax to an aimless plot) way more tolerable to get through. The rest of the cast is pretty bad with the exception of Lin Shaye as Harrelson's landlady, a scene which deserves no spoilers. Angel is pretty terrible (other than her looks). She lets her British accent slip out a lot and I didn't know she was from the UK before I watched this film.
This is a great movie in you're in the mood for some really creative silliness. A fun comedy with enough to keep you entertained the whole way.