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With Bill Murray being all the talk now for his excellent suporting turn in Rushmore, it seems only right that another of his fantastic supporting roles get some credit. This one's vintage Murray, the one we grew up knowing and laughing at. The film is Kingpin. Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson) is a prodigy. He's a master, not of the piano or the violin, but the bowling ball. He's destined for greatness, and, when he wins the Indiana State Championship, he's on his way to the tiptop of the pro ranks. That is, until he meets Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray), a sleazy tour pro who realizes that Roy might be competition for a long time. He schmoozes Roy into hustling some locals one night, and, when they're busted as ringers, Ernie bolts and leaves Roy to whatever fate the locals might dole out. They decide to run Roy's ball hand through the ball return. Cut to Roy some years later. He's a shell of his former self -- balding, alcoholic, one-handed -- about as low as he could get. Until he meets Ishmael (Randy Quaid), a young Amish lad with a talent for knocking down the pins. Roy cons him into going on tour with him, heading for the $1,000,000 Winner-Take-All Reno Open, where he thinks Ishmael can take him back to the high life. But, who should be there but reigning tour god Ernie McCracken, to stand in the way. This is a funny movie in four dozen different ways. The humor is childish and most of it is (pardon the bowling reference...) gutter humor, but the Farrelly Brothers, the twisted geniuses behind There's Something About Mary, were just hitting their stride here. This is also a very clever spoof of The Color of Money, having the old pro teaching the newcomer the ropes of the game, such as it is. Harrelson and Quaid are positively great, playing what could be considered the opposite roles than many might expect. Vanessa Angel is also mouth-watering as the woman who threatens to tear the team apart. But Bill Murray is just, well, he steals the movie. As the veteran McCracken, he sports rodeo shirts with built-in back braces, and possibly the most god-awful combover in the history of heads. He runs with the attitude of a thousand other pro athletes, even though he's a bowler, and his egotistical smart-ass McCracken is Murray in fifth gear. The glance, the half-wink, the delivery, it's all the Murray from SNL, Ghostbusters, and Stripes. Not to give away the great final battle, but let's just say you'll never see two more heinous hairstyles gone awry in your life then when the tension hits the two contestants. If you missed Kingpin, catch up to it now, because it is a must-see for a Farrelly fan, or a Harrelson fan, but especially if you're a Bill Murray fan. Classic roles like this come along every now and then, but one that's this low-class and hysterical is even more special. Get "reel" soon,
See past Alternative Medicine columns: A Christmas Story | To Kill A Mockingbird | I Wanna Hold Your Hand | Kingpin | Joe Versus the Volcano | The Commitments | Indian Summer | The Big Lebowski | Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre | Empire Records | That Thing You Do! | The Ten Commandments | The Third Man | Waiting for Guffman
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