THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 30, 1996 TAG: 9607300033
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: 60 lines
EVEN THE truck-driving guy in front of me, who looked like he'd been around the turf a few times, twisted his baseball cap backward, sank down in the seat and groaned at the grossness of some of the ``jokes'' in ``Kingpin.''
It's that kind of comedy, folks. There are vomit jokes. There are bodily function jokes (lots of them, but not quite as many as in ``The Nutty Professor''). There is a joke about bull semen. There's a grandmother with a beard and a landlady with yellow teeth and varicose veins. There are bestiality jokes. The ``hero'' has only one hand and wears a cheap rubber glove to cover his hook. The villain wears a wild wig, and everybody wears polyester.
``Kingpin'' is definitely not a dating picture. The guys who take a date to this one probably won't get a second date, at least not with the same person. It's aimed directly at young males - very young.
But, yes, you will laugh at times. You may feel guilty, but you'll laugh.
Woody Harrelson plays Roy Munsen, who was the bowling champion of Iowa until he got caught in a hustling scam and had his hand chewed off when it was thrust in a bowling ball-cleaning machine. Now, he's a paunchy, failed mess, and his hag of a landlady forces him to pay the rent by performing between the sheets.
He discovers an Amish fellow named Ishmael who is a natural bowler (played by Randy Quaid, who is much too old to play anyone this naive). They take off for the national championship in Reno, where the prize is $1 million, and a chance to beat Woody's old enemy, Big Ernie, played by Bill Murray.
Murray, as the haughty villain, is the funniest thing in the film, which isn't saying a lot. Harrelson goes for world-weary laughs, but Quaid seems to be in another movie as he aims for poignant naivete. Vanessa Angel, who has been heralded as a new discovery, does nothing more than model tight dresses. If she is to become an actress, it will be at a later date.
This is a creation of the brothers Bobby and Peter Farrelly, who unashamedly admit that they were responsible for ``Dumb and Dumber'' (a movie which grossed $250 million worldwide). There is every indication that these two know exactly what they're doing. Their grossness is so planned, and so intermixed with metaphors about failure and heartbreak, that they may have been going for some brand of dark absurdity.
``Kingpin'' is avant-garde tragi-comedy when compared to ``Dumb and Dumber,'' but its desperation (including Quaid in a go-go outfit) is a bit pathetic to watch. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
RYSHER ENTERTAINMENT
Woody Harrelson, as bowler Roy Munson, wows the crowd with strikes
and a split in the comedy ``Kingpin.''
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Kingpin''
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, Vanessa Angel, Bill Murray
Directors: Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly
MPAA rating: PG-13 (language, tasteless, crude)
Mal's rating: Two stars by CNB