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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 43 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Some of the gags don't work, and yet I laughed at the Farrellys' audacity in trying them. And the humor isn't just gags and punch lines, but one accomplished comic performance after another. Read full review

  • 75
    USA Today | Mike Clark

    Potty humor to spare. [26 July 1996, p. D4] Read full review

  • 67
    Austin Chronicle | Marc Savlov

    Kingpin is no classic, but I've got to admit that after sitting though a number of the film's less-than-inspiring previews over the last few weeks, I wasn't exactly expecting the second coming of Laurel and Hardy. Read full review

  • 60
    Variety | Joe Leydon

    Peter and Bobby Farrelly aimed low and grossed millions with "Dumb & Dumber," so it shouldn't be surprising that Kingpin, their latest effort, offers a similar mix of pratfalls, gross-out gags and jokes about bodily functions. This time, however, the humor is darker, edgier and occasionally, even more scatological. Read full review

  • 50
    Christian Science Monitor | David Sterritt

    Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, and Bill Murray give riotous performances, but be warned that the comedy is overloaded with gross-out humor from beginning to end. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    Kingpin has nastiness going for it. There are prosthesis jokes, bad-teeth jokes, ugly-women jokes, sight gags involving vomiting, etc. Read full review

  • 30
    The New York Times | Lawrence Van Gelder

    The team that gave the world "Dumb and Dumber" returns with something feeble and feebler. Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Examiner |

    The movie itself simply misses the mark. Read full review

  • 25
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Lowest-common-denominator humor. Read full review

  • 20
    Washington Post | Rita Kempley

    Without a doubt, mainstream moviegoers will be revolted by the nastiness of it all. Read full review

View more reviews for Kingpin on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Ribald bowling comedy is vintage Farrelly brothers.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that one video release of this was re-rated R by the MPAA. Even the PG-13 edition is exceptionally ribald (think the Austin Powers series, though with gags executed on a somewhat smarter level). Sex jokes abound, some as explicit as women's breasts groped, others requiring more thinking-through (and potential explaining to kids). Plenty of swearing happens as well, plus drinking and gambling (sports betting especially). Many jokes touch on the religious-based life of Amish sects, and while they are rarely mean-spirited attacks (the Amish are the nicest characters in the ensemble) they do tend to prop up stereotypical views.
  • Families can talk about the ending of the movie -- which goes against the grain of standard rah-rah sports movies about who wins and who loses. Who is indeed the real winner here? Also, a big part of the humor centers around the innocent Amish character meeting bad behavior in the modern world. What other fish-out-of-water comedies can you think of? Are there some that are more family-friendly than this one?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: In addition to the overall bad behavior shown by Roy, part of the narrative is the gradual introduction of a religious youth to sinful pleasures, like liquor, scamming, smoking, and lapdancers (even though the boy never quite goes wholeheartedly into corruption). A priest (or someone pretending to be one) acts lasciviously toward a sexy blonde. An arrogant sports champ uses his athletic standing for sex, and the climax holds the lesson that good guys don't always finish first. Sports gambling is a major plot component.
What to watch for
  • violence false2 Violence: Impressionist, non-visual violence as the main character's hand is mutilated. Fistfights and crotch kicks.
  • sex false4 Sex: The heroine wears a succession of revealing and sexy outfits, in one scene with exaggerated erect nipples under her blouse, in another with her large breasts acting as punching bags. Roy's landlady forces him to have sex with her (we just see the aftermath, with Roy throwing up from disgust); plus a recurring lewd gesture from the landlady that implies oral sex. Beautiful women get fondled on the fanny and on the bosom a lot. A character mistakes a bull for a cow and "milks" it (offscreen). Glimpses of a lapdancer in lingerie, and a hint that a minor character is sexually attracted to farm critters. A fantasy scene puts a homosexual spin on the Woody Harrelson adultery drama Indecent Proposal.
  • language false3 Language: Lots of the s-word; "SOB," "hell," "asshole," "t-ts."
  • consumerism false3 Consumerism: ESPN, bowling-related products and services (the PBA bowling association, in fact, backed this film as a way to make bowling more appealing to the young), beer companies, and a major-name condom manufacturer.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Plenty of smoking and drinking jokes; Roy claims to have been "liquored up for 17 years." A joke about glue-sniffing.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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