Kingpin (1996)

(On TV, September 2000) Some hold that comedy springs from other people’s misery, but looking at the Farrelly brothers’ Kingpin (and, indeed, most of their corpus—especially Me Myself And Irene) it’s easier to decide that they don’t really have a clue as to what’s funny. Stupid gags follow tasteless jokes follow lousy punch-lines follow incoherent plotting and the result is a mess. Characters? Repellent. Gags? Incoherent. Funny? Not really. Unsalvageable? Not quite, mostly due to Bill Murray, fantastic as usual, who turns a bad role in a crunchy performance that’s the only sustained reason to watch the film. Though the bowling parts are interesting, the rest isn’t worth it, and those looking for a good bowling comedy should first see The Big Lebowski.