Kingpin (1996 film)

Flashy young bowler Roy Munson wins the 1979 Iowa state bowling championship and leaves home to turn professional. In his professional bowling tour debut, he defeats established pro Ernie McCracken, who takes the loss poorly and seeks revenge. McCracken convinces Roy to join him in hustling a group of local amateur bowlers. When the amateurs realize they are being conned, McCracken flees while Roy is brutally beaten and loses his hand when it is forced into the ball return, ending his career. Seventeen years later, Roy uses a prosthetic hand and is living in Scranton, Pennsylvania as an alcoholic, unsuccessful traveling salesman of bowling supplies. He is always behind on his rent and is constantly harassed by his landlady Mrs. Dumars, eventually being reduced to trade sexual favors with her for a break on his back rent.

On a sales visit to a nearby bowling alley, Roy meets Ishmael Boorg. Impressed by his talent and a claimed 270 average, Roy tries convincing Ishmael to turn pro, with Roy acting as manager. Ishmael declines, as he is from the local Amish community and that his bowling hobby is a secret. Roy then sees a poster in a bowling magazine advertising a $1 million winner-take-all tournament in Reno, Nevada. Learning that Ishmael's family is about to lose their farm to the bank, Roy eventually convinces Ishmael's family to let him join Roy.

Roy discovers that the childlike Ishmael is unaware of some of bowling's basic rules and skills. (His 270 average was because he was taught to bowl 15 frames and not ten.) However, after some coaching, Ishmael improves. The duo earn money in various local tournaments and by hustling bowlers. Ishmael defeats wealthy bowling enthusiast Stanley Osmanski, but Stanley attacks the duo after discovering the roll of cash Roy put up was fake. As the group flee Osmanski's mansion, Stanley’s girlfriend Claudia, who had also been a victim of Osmanski's violence, joins them. Roy suspects Claudia has ulterior motives and is distracting Ishmael. After Roy gets in a fistfight with her, Ishmael flees. During his absence, Roy and Claudia travel to Roy's hometown, which has been abandoned ever since his father died years earlier. Roy then confesses to Claudia he never returned for his father's funeral out of shame for his failure as a pro bowler. They eventually find Ishmael and continue on to Reno.

In Reno, the group encounters McCracken, who is now a national bowling superstar. McCracken insults Roy and infuriates Ishmael, who tries punching McCracken but instead hits a wall and breaks his hand, leaving him unable to bowl. Later on, Claudia disappears with their money after being discovered by Stanley. A distraught Ishmael convinces Roy that they still have a chance to win $1 million if Roy bowls. Roy enters the tournament, rolling the ball with his prosthetic rubber hand. He wins his first several rounds, ending up in the televised finals against McCracken. During the final match, Ishmael's brother, who had been sent by the Boorg family, arrives and takes Ishmael back to Pennsylvania. When Roy realizes he is alone, he struggles, and McCracken wins the tournament by one pin.

Later, Stanley confronts Roy in search of Claudia, who had double-crossed him and stolen his money. Although Roy assumed Claudia was with Stanley, he is able to shift the blame to McCracken after Stanley informs him that Claudia had called McCracken fourteen times in the last three days. Stanley and his goon leave to track down McCracken.

Afterwards, Roy returns to Scranton and pours his liquor down the drain. He is visited by Claudia, who explains she had disappeared with Stanley in Reno to keep him from hurting Roy and Ishmael. She made Stanley believe she was running away with McCracken, and confesses her love for Roy, offering him money Stanley earned from betting on McCracken in the finals. Roy responds he has already earned $500,000 in an endorsement deal for Trojan condoms based on his prosthetic rubber hand. Roy and Claudia visit Ishmael's family home. Ishmael's parents explain that Roy and Claudia told them about Ishmael's forbidden bowling career, but also about the moral strength and decency he showed during his travels. Roy tells them how Ishmael straightened out Roy and Claudia's lives, with Roy shown to have finally given up drinking. Roy pays off the Boorg family's debts with his endorsement check, and drives away with Claudia.

Cast notes:

• Major league baseball pitcher Roger Clemens appears in a cameo as the character Skidmark during the restaurant scene.
• Professional bowlers Parker Bohn III, Randy Pedersen, Justin Hromek and Mark Roth appear as opponents that Roy Munson defeats on his way to the final match in Reno against McCracken.
• The film also features several musical acts. Jonathan Richman — who would play an even bigger musical role in the Farrelly brothers' next film There's Something About Mary — fronts the band performing in the restaurant scene. Urge Overkill performs the national anthem at the tournament in Reno, while John Popper appears as the master of ceremony. In the film's final scene, Popper's band Blues Traveler perform their song "But Anyway" while dressed in traditional Amish clothing.
• According to the Farrelly brothers, Michael Keaton, Chris Farley and Charles Rocket were considered for the roles played by Harrelson, Quaid and Murray respectively.^[6] Jim Carrey was the first choice for the role of Ernie McCracken.^[7]

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 49% approval rating based on 39 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's consensus, "Kingpin has its moments, but they're often offset by an eagerness to descend into vulgar mean-spiritedness."^[8] On Metacritic, based on 14 reviews, the film holds a score of 43 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".^[9] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B−" on a scale of A+ to F.^[10]

Roger Ebert had one of the more noteworthy positive reviews, giving it three and a half out of four stars.^[11] Gene Siskel also endorsed the film, putting it on his list of the ten best films for 1996.^[12]

Nancy Gerstman mentioned the film as one of the nine most underrated films in the 1990s.^[13]

In 2018 Vulture.com listed it at #2 on a list of Woody Harrelson's best films.^[14]

When released on DVD, Kingpin came in its original PG-13 theatrical version (113 minutes) and an extended, R-rated version (117 minutes). Both versions are available on the Blu-Ray disc issued by Paramount Pictures on October 14, 2014.

• Kingpin at IMDb