ON SCREEN: Kingpin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~          
eye WEEKLY                                              August 1, 1996          
Toronto's arts newspaper                      .....free every Thursday          
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~          
ON SCREEN                                                    ON SCREEN          
                                                                                
                               KINGPIN                                          
                                                                                
Starring Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, Vanessa Angel and Bill Murray.           
Screenplay by Barry Fanaro and Mort Nathan. Directed by Peter Farrelly          
and "Bobby Farrelly. (PG)                                                       
                                                                                
                           (eee of 5 eyes)                                      
                                                                                
                                  by                                            
                             Mark Dillon                                        
                                                                                
You might expect Kingpin, coming from the idiots what brung you Dumb            
And Dumber, to be the most puerile of screen comedies, a succession of          
cheap gags based on the body and its various parts and functions. And           
that's pretty much what it is.                                                  
                                                                                
But, surprisingly, it is also something more. There is a genuine sense          
of despair in the story of Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson), the 1979 Iowa          
state bowling champ who tries to make a comeback 17 years after losing          
his bowling hand in an altercation with some locals he tried to                 
hustle. But the film's occasional moments of anguish somehow do not             
get in the way of the fun.                                                      
                                                                                
Kingpin is an irreverent road movie. Roy, an alcoholic has-been,                
stumbles across Amish bowling prodigy Ishmael (Randy Quaid) at a local          
alley. He offers to manage Ish in a $1 million winner-take-all                  
tournament in Reno and split the winnings. The reluctant Ish only               
accepts so he can save his community from foreclosure. Along the way            
they pick up Claudia, a sexy hustler who's in a jam with her sadistic           
boyfriend. It is by no means a smooth ride. Roy and Claudia get into a          
hilariously stupid fight scene in which nothing below (or above) the            
belt is spared.                                                                 
                                                                                
Harrelson, who has spent too much time on and offscreen trying to               
disassociate himself from his nerdy Cheers persona, is surprisingly             
sympathetic as Roy. Likewise, Quaid is totally likable as the Amish             
man-child who picks up drinking, smoking, a couple of tattoos and a             
brief stint as a stripper on his first adventure in the outside world.          
But it is Bill Murray who steals the show in the climactic competition          
scene as nasty bowling ace "Big Ern" McCracken. His comb-over alone is          
worth the price of admission.                                                   
                                                                                
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~          
Retransmit freely in cyberspace        Author holds standard copyright          
http://www.eye.net                              Mailing list available          
collected reviews --------------------> http://www.eye.net/Arts/Movies          
eye@eye.net          "...Break the Gutenberg Lock..."     416-971-8421