Kingpin (1996)

Yet another “urge watch” occurred last night. I’ve had an itch to watch this film again for ages!!

Kingpin (1996)

I literally watched this film on repeat in the mid to late 90s!

If you haven’t seen it, it’s a really funny sport comedy directed by the Farrelly Brothers (Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary).

It stars Woody Harrelson (Zombieland), Randy Quade (Independence Day), Vanessa Angel (Hall Pass) and Bill Murray (Ghostbusters) among others.

This is what it’s about:

It’s 1979 and Roy Munson (Harrelson) is a young bowler with a promising career ahead of him. That is until he meets Ernie McCracken (Murray) who tricks him into participating in a hustle game that ends with Roy losing his bowling hand in a violent attack.

Years later, a down-on-his-luck Roy struggles to make ends meet until he discovers Amish bowling phenom Ishmael (Quaid). With the help of a gangser's girlfriend (Angel), Roy takes Ishmael under his wing and heads to Reno where he hopes to win $1 million at a winner-takes-all bowling tournament.

I love this film!

It’s silly, it’s funny, it has a great soundtrack (although, if you like the song Bad Reputation by Freedy Johnston you’ll be disappointed to find out it’s not on the official soundtrack) and quite frankly, Woody Harrelson can’t put a foot wrong as far as I’m concerned.

He’s such a versatile actor and brilliant in everything I’ve seen him in. Whether it’s his small part in Anger Management (2003) where he plays a transvestite named “Galaxia”, his menacing performance as the ruthless Colonel in War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), or his hilarious outing as the lovable zombie-killer, “Tallahassee” in the Zombieland movies, he just seems to be able to turn his hand to any genre.

Of course, Bill Murray never disappoints and this film is no exception. His character is such an arsehole and he plays it so well! His hair alone during the tournament at the end cracks me up! 😆

It was so great watching this again last night after not seeing it for so long!

If you’ve somehow missed it and like the Farrelly Brothers’ silly brand of humour I highly recommend giving it a watch. 🎳

I watched it on Amazon Prime for £3.49.

Seen it? Let me know your thoughts. 👇