The Amish and Bowling. Brilliant!

Rating: 7/10 (13 February 2005)

Only the Farrelly brothers could envision a story featuring a down-and-out has been bowler, played to perfection by Woody Harrelson, and the Amish, specifically the naive bowling prodigy played by Randy Quaid. I'm not really sure what brought these two world together in the Farrelly's mind, but whatever it was, I'm glad they thought of it. A very funny movie exploring what people will do when they have nothing to lose, not even their shame. Harrelson plays the once famous bowler Roy Munson who fell off the map in the 70s when his bowling had was removed from his body, coining the phrase "Munson-ed," meaning to be at the top and throw it all away. To help pay the bills, he meets Isheael (Quaid) who has great natural talent at bowling and is convinced by Munson to go to Reno to play in the national championship. Between the Amish settlement and Reno, the two go through various adventures that often pay tribute to Ishmael's Amish naiveté, such as the confusion over who actually has to pay for a lap-dance, and famous scenes from other movies, most notably ones from The Hustler. Kingpin also features Bill Murray in one of his fantastic roles, this time as the swarmmy bowling champion Ernie McCracken. We get the sense that all of the characters in the movie are desperate, either for money for his people, Ishmael goes along on the trip to win money for his Amish settlement, or to reclaim fame and fortune, Munson, or to just be known as the best, McCracken, and it's the desperation that leads to the comedy and the human touch. The film also features Vanessa Angel as a bimbo who helps Munson and Ishmael out of tough spot, and "Jefferson's on Ice!" perhaps one of the funniest TV parodies in a movie. Just look at Weezie go!