It has a bit of an aimless feel to it at times, but there are some big laughs and the film also has some heart to it as well

Rating: 7/10 (21 October 2015)

Woody Harrelson plays Roy Munson, a former tenpin bowling champion who falls on hard times after he loses his right hand following a disagreement/misunderstanding with some thugs. 17 years down the line, Munson's life has taken a turn for the worst - he's turned to alcohol and owes a large amount of rent to his landlady (Lin Shaye). However, Munson believes his luck is about to change when he discovers there is a competition in Reno where first prize is $1,000,000. Due to his injury, Munson doesn't want to compete and by chance he stumbles across a shy Amish man called Ishmael (Randy Quaid) who shows a real talent for bowling. Believing that Ishmael is the perfect ticket to win the money, Munson befriends Ishmael and the two men set off on a journey that neither man is likely to forget.
The Farrelly brothers show in this film (and with the original Dumb and Dumber film) that they could still make films that were funny and fairly good natured. Yes like Dumb and Dumber some of the humour is a bit crude (it's a Farrelly brothers after all), but for me most of the funny moments revolve around Ishmael's naivety when Munson pulls him into the 'real' world outside of his Amish community. It perhaps also helps that Randy Quaid gives an absolute stellar performance and does an excellent job at captivating this vulnerability. It does feel a bit mean-spirited at the start, but the bond and respect that develops between the two men is quite touching and the film has a lot more heart than I thought it would.
The only minor issue I had with this film is that the narrative is a bit aimless and meandering. I got the impression that a lot of the scenes in the middle could have been edited and that the whole film could have been cut to around the 90 minute mark (which probably would have made it a bit more enjoyable). However, this is a minor quibble and Kingpin more than makes up for it with the big laughs that are on offer here. Randy Quaid was the star of the show here, but Harrelson and Murray were both excellent as well. The supporting cast were also good and Vanessa Angel looks great here.
Kingpin plods and drags its heels at times, but it's a fine film with great performances, lots of heart and many very funny moments.