Without
question, KINGPIN ($15) is one of the most hilarious low brow
comedies to ever be produced. The first time I saw the film, I laughed
so hard that the tears in my eyes made it difficult for me to see
most of the movie. KINGPIN comes from the directing duo of
Bobby and Peter Farrelly- the brothers responsible for the riotous
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, as well as the brilliant exercise
in stupidity- DUMB AND DUMBER. Under the Farrelly's careful
guidance, KINGPIN allows no joke to go over the audience's
heads. In fact, sophistication is never part of the equation- KINGPIN
is chock full of the kind of gross-out humor, tasteless sex jokes
and inspired stupidity that have become the Farrelly brother's stock
and trade.
KINGPIN
stars Woody Harrelson as Roy Munson, a child prodigy of the bowling world,
who grows up to be the 1979 state champion. After winning The Odor-Eaters
Bowling Championship, Roy would appear to be on his way to fame and glory.
Unfortunately, his glory days are short lived when he hooks up with Big
Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray), the man he defeated in the bowling championship.
Big Ern, as he likes to be called, talks the naive Roy into a scam that
end's up costing him his bowling hand. Flash forward seventeen years-
Roy is a down on his luck drunk with a hook for a hand. Roy manages to
live day to day by trying to sell supplies to bowling alleys. Just when
Roy hits rock bottom, he meets Ishmael Boorg (Randy Quaid), an innocent
Amish lad (of forty) with an amazing knack for knocking down the pins.
Roy sees Ishmael as a diamond in the rough, but he thinks the Amish kid
could be his ticket out of the gutter. With coaching, Roy knows that Ishmael
could win the million-dollar prize being offered at a Reno bowling tournament.
However, convincing Ishmael to accompany him to Reno doesn’t prove
easy for Roy, who is forced to infiltrate the Amish community just to
get at the bowling virtuoso. Eventually, Ishmael decides to go Reno, but
only after learning that the bank is about to foreclose on the Amish community’s
property. On the road to Reno, circumstance forces Roy and Ishmael take
on a beautiful new partner named Claudia (Vanessa Angel), whose natural
assets prove invaluable. When the trio finally arrives in Reno, they encounter
the final obstacle that stands between them and the prize money- Big Ernie
McCracken. The plot may sound like a white trash tragedy, but it plays
like a gut-busting laugh riot. If you don’t find KINGPIN funny,
you’re either dead… or Amish. The cast also includes Chris Elliott,
William Jordan, Richard Tyson and Lin Shaye in an unforgettable performance.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made KINGPIN available on DVD in both wide
screen and full screen presentations on opposite sides of the DVD. Both
versions include four additional minutes of wonderfully "tasteless
footage" that bumps the film’s rating to an R. The full
screen version is fine, but makes KINGPIN look like it was made
for cable film. Purists are going to love the fact the wide screen version
not only restores the film’s 2.35:1 aspect ratio, it also includes
the 16:9 anamorphic component. The wide screen transfer isn’t likely
to make anyone’s jaw drop, but it has a very pleasing image, with
respectable levels of sharpness and detail. Colors are very nice, with
solid saturation and natural flesh tones. All traces of chroma noise and
compression artifacts remained in check throughout the presentation.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack delivers good sound, but the mix isn’t
showy. Music is a big part of the soundtrack, which the DVD reproduces
beautifully. Dialogue is clean, always intelligible and focused in the
center channel. The surround channels are used sparingly, but they provide
a nice level of ambience and occasional effects. Subtitles are available
in English and French. The interactive menus have an amusing design that
utilizes animation, music and sound effects. Through the menus one can
access the standard scene and language selection features, as well as
the DVD’s extras. Anyone who enjoyed the movie will get a kick out
of the running audio commentary provided by Bobby and Peter Farrelly.
The brothers talk in detail about the production, as well as everyone
who showed their face or body part on the screen. They also let it out
of the bag that Bill Murray’s brilliant performance is about 99%
ad-libbed, like that comes as a big surprise. A theatrical trailer is
also included on the DVD.
If
you love your comedies as tasteless, vulgar and hilarious as possible,
then KINGPIN is for you. Recommended.
Without
question, KINGPIN ($15) is one of the most hilarious low brow
comedies to ever be produced. The first time I saw the film, I laughed
so hard that the tears in my eyes made it difficult for me to see
most of the movie. KINGPIN comes from the directing duo of
Bobby and Peter Farrelly- the brothers responsible for the riotous
THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY, as well as the brilliant exercise
in stupidity- DUMB AND DUMBER. Under the Farrelly's careful
guidance, KINGPIN allows no joke to go over the audience's
heads. In fact, sophistication is never part of the equation- KINGPIN
is chock full of the kind of gross-out humor, tasteless sex jokes
and inspired stupidity that have become the Farrelly brother's stock
and trade.
KINGPIN
stars Woody Harrelson as Roy Munson, a child prodigy of the bowling world,
who grows up to be the 1979 state champion. After winning The Odor-Eaters
Bowling Championship, Roy would appear to be on his way to fame and glory.
Unfortunately, his glory days are short lived when he hooks up with Big
Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray), the man he defeated in the bowling championship.
Big Ern, as he likes to be called, talks the naive Roy into a scam that
end's up costing him his bowling hand. Flash forward seventeen years-
Roy is a down on his luck drunk with a hook for a hand. Roy manages to
live day to day by trying to sell supplies to bowling alleys. Just when
Roy hits rock bottom, he meets Ishmael Boorg (Randy Quaid), an innocent
Amish lad (of forty) with an amazing knack for knocking down the pins.
Roy sees Ishmael as a diamond in the rough, but he thinks the Amish kid
could be his ticket out of the gutter. With coaching, Roy knows that Ishmael
could win the million-dollar prize being offered at a Reno bowling tournament. 
However, convincing Ishmael to accompany him to Reno doesn’t prove
easy for Roy, who is forced to infiltrate the Amish community just to
get at the bowling virtuoso. Eventually, Ishmael decides to go Reno, but
only after learning that the bank is about to foreclose on the Amish community’s
property. On the road to Reno, circumstance forces Roy and Ishmael take
on a beautiful new partner named Claudia (Vanessa Angel), whose natural
assets prove invaluable. When the trio finally arrives in Reno, they encounter
the final obstacle that stands between them and the prize money- Big Ernie
McCracken. The plot may sound like a white trash tragedy, but it plays
like a gut-busting laugh riot. If you don’t find KINGPIN funny,
you’re either dead… or Amish. The cast also includes Chris Elliott,
William Jordan, Richard Tyson and Lin Shaye in an unforgettable performance.
MGM
Home Entertainment has made KINGPIN available on DVD in both wide
screen and full screen presentations on opposite sides of the DVD. Both
versions include four additional minutes of wonderfully "tasteless
footage" that bumps the film’s rating to an R. The full
screen version is fine, but makes KINGPIN look like it was made
for cable film. Purists are going to love the fact the wide screen version
not only restores the film’s 2.35:1 aspect ratio, it also includes
the 16:9 anamorphic component. The wide screen transfer isn’t likely
to make anyone’s jaw drop, but it has a very pleasing image, with
respectable levels of sharpness and detail. Colors are very nice, with
solid saturation and natural flesh tones. All traces of chroma noise and
compression artifacts remained in check throughout the presentation. 
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack delivers good sound, but the mix isn’t
showy. Music is a big part of the soundtrack, which the DVD reproduces
beautifully. Dialogue is clean, always intelligible and focused in the
center channel. The surround channels are used sparingly, but they provide
a nice level of ambience and occasional effects. Subtitles are available
in English and French. The interactive menus have an amusing design that
utilizes animation, music and sound effects. Through the menus one can
access the standard scene and language selection features, as well as
the DVD’s extras. Anyone who enjoyed the movie will get a kick out
of the running audio commentary provided by Bobby and Peter Farrelly.
The brothers talk in detail about the production, as well as everyone
who showed their face or body part on the screen. They also let it out
of the bag that Bill Murray’s brilliant performance is about 99%
ad-libbed, like that comes as a big surprise. A theatrical trailer is
also included on the DVD.
If
you love your comedies as tasteless, vulgar and hilarious as possible,
then KINGPIN is for you. Recommended.
