Kingpin A Video Review	MPAA Rated - PG-13 It's 1:53 Long A Review by The Dude on the Right

Everything I read about this movie pointed to it being a laugh riot, fully enjoyable, you'll be rolling on the floor and reciting lines to all of your friends. I heard it grouped in the category of "Stripes," "Animal House," and this was the "Caddyshack" of bowling. Personally I don't remember any lines, I didn't fall off of the couch, and doubt I'll watch it till I memorized the lines like I did for "Caddyshack." That's not to say I didn't like it, but for me I guess it just didn't live up to the expectations.

In the movie you've got Roy Munson, played by Woody Harrelson, a rising bowling star, pride of his little hometown, pissing away 17 years of his life because he lost his bowling hand when Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray) screws him over. He finds an Amish dude, Ishmael (Randy Quaid) with a 250+ average, sort of. There's this bowling tournament in Reno where the winner gets $1,000,000 and Roy decides his ticket to the big time is to lead Ishmael to the promised land - Reno. Ishmael doesn't want to go, he's Amish after all, but then embarks on this journey to save his homeland from the mean and nasty bank. Well, they traipse across the country and on the way find Claudia (Vanessa Angel) during one of their hustles. Yep, they make it to Reno, but I won't spoil the end. So there's the basic story line.

I know a lot of this movie is about making fun of the image of bowlers as being beer drinking, pot-bellied, balding men who ogle the women. It does a great job at that, and some of the chuckles I had related to just those things. What I didn't like, or thought the movie lacked, was that it spent too much time with Roy and Ishmael, who, although funny, it was Ernie who seemed to be always stealing the show. Where I thought "Caddyshack" did a great job of intermingling all of the characters and somehow connecting them all, I got bored with the travels of old "one hand" and his Amish buddy and would have like to have seen more of Ernie, maybe even Claudia's boyfriend dude, and definitely more of Claudia. In the end it was like everyone came together, but how? Maybe I'm analyzing the film too much, but it's just that I thought it missed somewhere.

I did grin and chuckle during most of the movie, which is a good sign, but it didn't live up to the grandiose expectations I had for it. It's full of funny jokes, lots of gags, and is pretty enjoyable, but, well, I give Kingpin 3 stars.

Here's Stu's Original Movie Review
Not since "Dumb & Dumber" have I laughed so much during a movie. From the start of the movie making fun of 70's fashion, to the middle where Woody has to do the ugly land-lady to make good on the rent, to the end when Murray tries to cover his bald spot by growing one side of his hair long and combing it over, and all the gags in-between, I laughed throughout this entire movie.

So what's it about? Did you ever see the movie "The Color of Money" with Cruise and Nueman? Basically, "Kingpin" is "The Color of Money" set in the bowling world and with a humorous edge. For those of you who didn't see "The Color of Money"... Go out and friggin' rent it! It's a good movie!

"Kingpin" breaks down like this: Woody is Roy Munson a small town bowling protégé trying to make it on a national bowling tour. During a hustle gone wrong Ernie McCraken, Murray, leaves behind Munson and Munson looses his hand (does this sound anything like "The Hustler" yet). He spends the next 17 years drowning his sorrows by drinking Jim Beam (I would have chosen Jack Daniel's myself). One day he stumbles across a kid who has a 250+ average! Suddenly Munson's life has meaning again. If he can get this kid, Quaid, to join him, he knows that under his tutelage this kid can win a Million Dollar Take All Tournament in Reno. The only problem is that Ishmael, the kid, is Amish. Amish or not Munson needs this kid! Munson goes so far as to pose as an Amish person himself (and accidentally drinks the "milk" from a bull he just "milked") to get in with the kid. Eventually Ishmael does go, but only because his family needs the money. On the road to Reno the boys try a couple of cons and Ishmael becomes totally corrupted. When they hook up with Claudia, Vanessa Angel, a street smart hustler, the cons get even better. Claudia is a megga-babe with great THO's and she wears some great outfits in this movie. To see her in yellow, vinyl hot pants and top is worth the price of admission alone! Too bad she doesn't get naked in the movie. I'm starting to get a little long winded here so let me end this part by saying they make it out to Reno and the movie has a happy ending (but I'm not saying if they won the tournament).

This movie is full of quick predictable jokes (Munson bowling with a fake hand and loosing it down the lane) and clichés (all bowlers are white trash). Even so, Harrelson and Quaid really pull off some big laughs. Though this movie does follow the same format as "The Color of Money," it is not a serious movie at all. It's a goofball comedy that falls somewhere between "Caddie Shack" and "Dumb and Dumber." I really liked it and I give it 4.0 out of 5.0 stars.