Kingpin (1996) on Netflix
Roy Munson was a bowling prodigy until a hustle cost him his hand. Years later he meets Ishmael Boorg, an Amish bowler, and offers to coach him toward a million-dollar Reno tournament.
- Netflix3.0/5
- IMDb6.9/1097,502 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes50%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1979, Roy Munson leaves his Iowa home to bowl professionally and defeats the boastful pro Ernie McCracken in his debut. McCracken then talks him into hustling amateur bowlers for extra cash, and when the scheme is discovered Roy is left behind with the men they cheated, who wreck his bowling hand. Seventeen years on, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Roy wears a rubber prosthetic and scrapes by on schemes, his surname a byword for wasted promise. At a bowling alley he meets Ishmael Boorg, an Amish man whose community frowns on his bowling, and offers to make him a professional. Ishmael refuses until the bank threatens to seize his family's farm, then agrees to travel to a Reno tournament with Roy as his coach.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Kingpin (1996)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The Farrelly brothers say Jim Carrey was their first choice to play villain Ernie McCracken, while Michael Keaton, Chris Farley and Charles Rocket were considered for the roles that went to Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid and Bill Murray.
- Musician Jonathan Richman fronts the band performing in the film's restaurant scene, a role that grew into a much bigger recurring musical part in the Farrelly brothers' next film, There's Something About Mary; Blues Traveler also perform dressed in Amish clothing over the end credits.
- Real professional bowlers Parker Bohn III, Randy Pedersen, Justin Hromek and Mark Roth appear onscreen as the opponents Roy Munson defeats on his way to the Reno final.
- Major league pitcher Roger Clemens makes a cameo in the film as a character named Skidmark during the restaurant scene.
