What a film. You have to love Big Ern!
In many ways, you could argue that comedies are the hardest films to nail because there are so many subgenres. For example, in 2017, films like Lady Bird, The Big Sick, The Disaster Artist and The Meyerowitz Stories were all critically adored but they're not exactly what you would define as 'laughs every minute.' You could also argue that they've got strong dramatic and serious elements too.
On a similar note, the releases that were pitched as pure comedies failed to deliver the laughs. Baywatch, Father Figures, Fist Fight, Chips and Daddy's Home 2 were all pretty bad and this trend of poor studio comedies has been noticeable - thank god that Game Night and Blockers have reversed this trend in recent weeks.
Anyways, it appears that good spoofs and slapstick comedies have fallen by the wayside but during the '90s, the Farrelly Brothers reigned supreme.
With Dumb & Dumber in 1994 and There’s Something About Mary following four years later, the siblings made two cult-classics but some people might say that Kingpin is even funnier than those two.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VvB7S-4Hl4
Clip via -
soundfan
This being said, the film really got 'Munsoned' at the time of its release and it's still massively underrated. At the time of writing, the film carries a weak 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, 6.9 on IMDB and it was also a bust at the box office - the film failed to recoup its $27 million budget with a $25 million domestic haul.
Despite this double setback, the hilarious tale of an Amish bowling prodigy (Randy Quaid) and his depraved mentor (Woody Harrelson) still maintains its status as a cult-classic and Bill Murray's performance is a large reason why.
When film buffs point to the genius of Murray, they often think of Ghostbusters, Caddyshack or Groundhog Day, but for our money, there’s no greater creation of his than Ernie McCracken. Big Ern is one of his most memorable and quotable performances because, despite the fact that he's a massive dickhead, you just have to love him.
In fact, the Farrelly Brothers even said that Murray barely read the script and just invented most of his own iconic lines. "Bill just threw all the pages away and just said, “I get it, trust me,” and we did and every line he came up with was better than the line that was scripted. ‘You’re on a gravy train with biscuit wheels.’ Like, where the fuck did that shit come from? It was genius,"
they said.
With a dazzling comb-over and a rampantly narcissistic attitude, Big Ern just swaggers through life while delivering some amazing lines. In contrast to the dim-witted but lovable Ishmael or the increasingly pathetic Roy, Big Ern is one of those bastards that gets all the breaks and doesn't care what people think of him.
This scene still cracks us up. Supplemental income?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZOuXQwTP50
Clip via - YoureAJagOff
The film itself centres upon sad sack Roy Munson, a former bowling prodigy who is now living without his teenage mane, without his bowling hand and is forced to keep his apartment by committing himself to one of the most vomit-inducing sex scenes imaginable with his decrepit landlady.
In the '70s, Roy (Woody Harrelson) was a bowling phenomenon. He was none too sharp about picking friends, though, and the champion he had to beat, Big Ern, takes him under his supposedly friendly wing. After a scam goes wrong, Roy's life literally goes down the shitter - " Roy, can you get sick drinkin' piss?" - until he sees a shot at redemption.
On a visit to a bowling alley, he cannot help but notice the incredible talents of an Amish boy, Ishmael (Randy Quaid). What unfolds is one of the most depraved, hilarious and endlessly quotable films of the '90s.
Hell, any man that can spend two decades of his life drinking is worth your time.
Kingpin airs on ITV1 at 23:15 tonight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7V-9UG5Pn0
Clip via - Movieclips
