Kingpin (1996)

Is this the first of the raunchy comedies set in the world of a laughable sport that the characters take very seriously (we’ve since gotten movies about dodgeball and ping-pong)? Could be. It feels like it. If you know differently, please don’t contact me about it. I’m not that interested. At 117 minutes, this overshoots the comedy film sweet spot length (90-100 minutes) by way too much, though it IS funny. The characters are mean to each other and the jokes are happy to get gross. It’s one of those movies that offers about fifteen gags a minute, like a tire spinning in mud and throwing it all over the place. If even only 25% of it works, the crowd still leaves happy. Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid and Bill Murray are memorably deranged. And if they don’t do it for you, there’s always Vanessa Angel, my vote for the hottest woman in a 90s comedy. She’s the sexy, shapely relief amid all of these aggressively ugly guys (the awful hair and bad wigs on every major male character might be my favorite joke here) and, to the Farrelly brothers’ credit, she’s also a full participant in the gags and pivotal to the story, no mere piece of scenery.