Coincidentally, the second film from the directing partnership behind Dumb And Dumber not only looks like a Jim Carrey vehicle but actually opens opposite the comedy king's latest. Whether it can summon up the necessary clout to take on Carrey's box office muscle remains to be seen, but taken on its own level it makes for a fun, if forgettable, experience.
Having been separated from his bowling arm by a disgruntled mob after a con trick backfires, ten-pin pro Roy Munson (Harrelson) stumbles across Amish bowling whiz Ishmael (Quaid) at his local bowling alley, takes the pudding-bowl protege under his wing and heads for Reno and the national bowling championship to settle a score with sleazy title holder Ernie McCracken (Murray) the man responsible for Munson's single-handed state.
As daft humour goes, Kingpin isn't in the same ballpark as Dumb And Dumber, and its everything-but-the-kitchen sink approach to its genre - with parody, sight gags et al. - makes for a muddled picture. But the jokes succeed often enough, while the bowling is covered to great effect in a showdown between Harrelson and Murray, whose strutting poseur steals the show.