Kingpin (1996) Rated R Starring: Bill Murray, Woody Harrelson, and Randy Quaid Rating: out of

As the movie opens, Roy Munson (Harrelson) wins the Iowa state amateur bowling championship and goes on to the professional circuit. He encounters Big Ernie McCracken (Murray), who shows him the unscrupulous side of a professional bowler's life: hustling. When a scam goes bad, Big Ern flees while Munson loses his hand to a bowling ball return machine.

Flashing forward seventeen years, Munson has relocated to Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he's become an alcoholic bowling equipment salesman, who's only claim to fame is his amateur championship ring worn on a cheap rubber prosthetic hand.

While trying to hawk his wares in a local bowling alley, he discovers Ishmael (Quaid), an Amish man who's got natural bowling talent, much like Munson did in his younger days. Munson sees an opportunity to manage Ishmael and tries to convince him to travel with him to Reno, Nevada for a $1 million bowling tournament.

Along the way, they meet Claudia (Vanessa Angel), who helps bankroll their cross-country trip to Reno. She also provides a unique method of distracting bowlers the pair attempt to hustle.

While not exactly going out of its way to stay out of the realm of gutter humor, the movie's strength is in the performances of its main actors. Harrelson is convincing as the down-on-his-luck Munson. Quaid is enthusiastic and wide-eyed as the Amish farmhand who ventures into the "English" world for the first time. Murray is nearly demonic as the corrupt McCracken, who one sportscaster says "would make a great politician someday."

I almost passed this movie up, but I'm really glad I didn't. It's not something the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is going to give a second look at, but if you're looking for something to make you laugh, rent Kingpin.

Trivia: Vanessa Angel thought about changing her name because it sounded like that of a porn actress. (Source: The Internet Movie Database)