‘Kingpin’: The movie that almost ruined the Farrelly brothers’ career
The Farrelly brothers have had an… interesting career to say the least. Together, Peter and Bobby made some of the best-loved comedies of the 1990s, including There’s Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber. On his own, Peter directed Green Book, which shocked the world by winning ‘Best Picture’ at the 201_ Oscars. On the other hand, they directed Movie 43. Enough said.
Raised in the tiny state of Rhode Island (the starting point for most of their early films), the brothers were unlikely success stories. They got their big breaks writing for TV, including on ‘The Virgin’, a season four episode of Seinfeld. They had their first big movie hit two years with Dumb and Dumber, but their sophomore effort didn’t run quite so smoothly.
In 2016, Fast Company celebrated the 20th anniversary of the movie Kingpin by interviewing the directors about their experiences making the film. “It was not a box office hit,” Bobby said. “So Pete and I did have a feeling at that time that our career may be in trouble. We were afraid, ‘Uh-oh, jeez, there goes our track record. We had a big hit and now we don’t.’ And we were wondering if we’d ever get another movie. We weren’t entirely sure.”
Kingpin stars Woody Harrelson as Roy Munson, a former champion bowler who falls on hard times. He meets Ishmael Boorg (Randy Quaid), an Amish man with an incredible talent on the lanes. Taking him on as an apprentice, Roy seeks to manage Ishmael to the big time and cash in on his success. Unfortunately, the Farrelly brothers were not cashing in on Kingpin, which barely made its budget back at the box office. Furthermore, it was met with mixed critical opinion, as viewers took issue with the film’s reliance on toilet humour and jabs at the Amish community.
Things looked bleak for the siblings. Hollywood history is littered with promising talent who, after directing one great movie, disappeared into the abyss after failing to follow it up. Luckily for the Farrellys, they had some big names in their corner. “The one thing that kept us going was on that Sunday morning, Siskel and Ebert came on and they gave that movie the best review of any movie, ever,” Peter revealed. “They looked into the camera and said, ‘Okay, guys, we’re talkin’ to the filmmakers now: thank you. Because you have no idea how many times we go to these comedies and never laugh. And here we just howled and we’re grateful. Thank you for giving us this movie.’ And I’m telling you the truth, that thing, that review, I held onto that review for the next six months.”
Of course, things turned out just fine for the brothers. They followed it with There’s Something About Mary, before reuniting with Jim Carrey for Me, Myself & Irene, which wasn’t critically revered, but was a financial hit. Most recently, they both put out individual efforts in 2024; Peter with the laddy comedy Ricky Stanicky and Bobby with the holiday-themed caper Dear Santa.
Were either of those films any good? In a word, no. However, none of them would have been possible if they hadn’t been able to tank the hit of Kingpin, which has since gone on to find a home as a cult favourite.
