And You Call Yourselves A Bowling Alley?

Rating: 7/10 (20 April 2001)

Just on principle, any movie about Amish bowlers should be funny. "Kingpin", which is a Farrelly Brothers film about an Amish bowler, is not only howlingly funny, it's also sick, twisted, and one of the most underrated comedies of recent years. While not quite up to the lowbrow genius of the Farrelly Brothers' other films ("Dumb and Dumber", "There's Something About Mary"), there's enough crude humor blended with a genuinely engaging story to create a film that's remarkably good.
Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson) is a promising young bowling champion who has the audacity to defeat the king of the local lanes, Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray, in a delightfully sleazy, love-to-hate role). Ernie decides that Roy needs to learn a lesson in manners, one thing leads to another Three Stooges style, and Roy's bowling career is suddenly ended by a freakish injury, one which costs him his bowling hand. (The sheer fact that the manner in which this is done is hysterically funny is a tribute to the Farrelly Brothers' gift for comedy.) Fast forward ten years to a fat, bitter, and balding Roy, who suddenly spots Ishmael Boorg , a kid with a real gift for bowling . . . a sweet, innocent, Amish kid. Roy takes the kid under his wing, and in a crude, darkly funny series of events that oddly seems to parody "The Color of Money", Roy begins to teach the kid about bowling . . . and about life.
"Kingpin" isn't exactly the most intelligent comedy ever made -- one of the best jokes in the film involves X's efforts to milk a bull -- but it is darn funny. Like other Farrelly Brothers films. there's also a certain level of sweetness mixed in with all the bawdy humor, which gives the film some depth and makes it more than just a 90 minute R-rated Three Stooges routine. As stupid as some of these characters are -- and there's plenty of stupid to pass around in "Kingpin" -- you actually care about what happens to them. They aren't just walking punchlines.
Of special mention is Bill Murray, who brings new dimensions to the word slime. With his sequined shirts, plastered comb-over, and condescending sneer, Murray looks and acts like a cross between a used car salesman and Hitler. As Ernie McCracken , Murray relishes being loathed and hated, and man, he gives you plenty of hilarious reasons to hate him.
Highly recommended, if you appreciate fun, dumb, politically incorrect jokes. B+