Kingpin on DVD

• Cat.no: EDV 9054
• Cert: 12
• Running time: 109 minutes
• Year: 1995
• Pressing: 1999
• Region(s): 2 (UK PAL)
• Chapters: 12 plus extras
• Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
• Languages: English
• Subtitles: None
• Widescreen: 1.77:1 (16:9) (Super 35)
• 16:9-enhanced: Yes
• Macrovision: No
• Disc Format: DVD 5
• Price: £15.99
• Extras : Scene index, trailer, featurette

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Director:

Peter and Bobby Farrelly

(Dumb and Dumber, There’s Something About Mary)

Producers:

Screenplay:

Music:

Cast:

Roy Munson: Woody Harrelson (Doc Hollywood, EdTV, Indecent Proposal, Money Train, Natural Born Killers, Palmetto, The People Vs Larry Flynt, The Thin Red Line, Wag the Dog, Welcome to Sarajevo, White Men Can’t Jump, TV: Cheers)
Ishmael: Randy Quaid (Bye Bye Love, Caddyshack II, The Choirboys, Get On the Bus, Hard Rain, Independence Day, The Last Detail, The Last Picture Show, Midnight Express, Moving, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, National Lampoon’s Vacation, National Lampoon’s Vegas Vacation, No Man’s Land, The Paper, Quick Change, Texasville, What’s Up Doc?)
Claudia: Vanessa Angel (Killer Instinct, TV: Weird Science)
Ernie McCracken: Bill Murray (Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters 2, Groundhog Day, Little Shop of Horrors, Mad Dog and Glory, The Man Who Knew Too Little, Quick Change, The Rutles: All You Need is Cash, Space Jam, Stripes, Wild Things)

Kingpin is a ten-pin bowling comedy directed by the Farrelly Brothers who have also brought us There’s Something About Mary and Dumb & Dumber. What this means is a series of slapstick jokes and a pair of big tits.

Introduced to the sport as a young boy, Roy Munson Woody Harrelson hit the big time in 1979 at the age of 17 when he became State Champion. After a run-in with bowling wiseguy Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray) and an unfortunate incident to follow, Roy is left unable to perform as he once was.

We join him a further 17 years on in 1996 when, left with a hook for a hand, apart from an oversized prosthetic piece, he finds a new bowling talent in Ishmael (Randy Quaid) who he needs to groom up in preparation for a bowling tournament with a prize of $1 million. Along the way they pick up another piece of talent in the form of the delectable Claudia (Vanessa Angel), a wise choice for the small-screen version of Weird Science.

Alas, when it comes to the jokes there are less hits than misses. If Roy had only just lost his hand when we get to 1996, close to the present day at the time of the film’s release, then I’d be able to accept the fate that is dealt out as he learns to cope, but I’m sure if I was in his position, then 17 years later I wouldn’t still be smashing my radio alarm clock with it, or tearing a shirt every time I put one on, or losing the hand itself when attempting to bowl after the accident.

The picture is fairly clean of artifacts and is anamorphic, but D’oh! (No.1) it’s in the wrong ratio! For once, “Ratio 16:9”, previously used by EiV for denoting an anamorphic film in its original 2.35:1 ratio, does exactly what it says on the tin. However, as it was shot in Super 35 format, the picture is a combination of pan-and-scan and open-matte, so not a complete disaster but an avoidable one. The average bitrate is a middling 4.77Mb/s, briefly peaking over 7Mb/s.

The sound is, D’oh! (No.2) once again, Dolby Prologic, not Dolby Digital 5.1 like the American release. There’s some nice 70’s tunes in there but it could have been a whole lot more.

Extras : Chapters : Like a lot of their recent discs, 12 chapters again and again EiV have provided approximate times for where the chapter breaks occur, they’re all an hour ahead and have spawned timings down to 1/100ths of a second !?!

Languages & Subtitles : English only in Dolby Surround but no subtitles.

Trailer and Featurette : The original theatrical trailer is included as well as a standard 3½-minute made-for-TV featurette which combines clips from the film with chat from the cast and crew.

Menu : The main menu is silent and static, features a couple of shots of Vanessa Angel in her pose (shown right) and options to select a scene, start the film or choose the “extra features”.

If you’ve previously bought into the “World of Farrelly”, then you’ll need no further reasons to watch this film, but if you haven’t, then rent first. What does surprise me is the quote on the front cover from the News of the World stating that “Bill Murray is funnier than ever”. After his initial five minutes of fame he only comes back in the last half-hour for a couple of quips and the obvious ‘other finalist’ in the bowling tournament. FILM : ** PICTURE QUALITY : *** SOUND QUALITY: *** EXTRAS: * ——————————- OVERALL: **½

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.