Bowling..A True He-Man’s Sport

 

When I was a kid, in the 70s, there used to be a show called, “Bowling For Dollars.” It was dreck…boring as dirt but it stayed on TV for years…I’m not sure who watched it, but I figured people who gave up on life. Aside from that, I like bowling but only the small balls and I can’t bowl the normal way. I’m the granny who take the ball in both hands, move my feet like Fred Flintstones, and throw the ball down the lane watching it go into the gutter. It made me think of movies with bowling  in it and I realized I saw 3 movies with bowling a big part of the movie.

1. UNCLE BUCK-1989

I love John Candy and this film stars Candy in a John Hughes film about a lazy git who lives off of horse betting and doing as little as possible. His sister in law’s father has suffered a heart attack, and they must travel back to care for her dad but they have no babysitter. Enter Uncle Buck, who is available and, with his exhaust fumed car, agrees to babysit the kids. The 2 youngest like their Uncle but the oldest kid, with a huge chip on her shoulder, does all she can to disrupt her Uncle. At one point, he takes them all bowling with some hilarious antics. This is not a great film, but it is funny and sweet plus it showed how much chemistry Candy had with a young McCauley Caulkin. I think my favourite scene is between Candy and the Principal of youngest niece’s school. The huge mole on this lady’s face gives Candy all he needs to make this scene beyond funny. I also realize I had a car similar to the one in this movie. 

2. KINGPIN-1996

Woody Harrelson plays a down and out alcoholic who once had a promising career as a professional bowler only to have been scammed by a fellow bowler which resulted in the crippling of his hand. He now uses a rubber hand but his career is over. In fact, he reaches a new low when he sleeps with his very gross landlady instead of paying his rent. He meets up with Randy Quaid, who is an Amish man who loves bowling. Woody sees that Quaid is an excellent bowler and decides to train him to enter a championship in order that Quaid can save his family’s farm from being taken over by the bank. This is one very, very funny movie that I need to see again. The one scene that stuck in my head and my ex is the gross bedroom scene between Woody and the Landlady. Funny, when my ex and I  went to Prague, in 1997, we arrived just before midnight in this skanky train station. I was lucky to get Czech money just before the money exchange closed and went to call the Taxi service. My ex needed to go to the washroom but it costs money to get into that icky bathroom. I turned around to see this very gross looking woman yelling at my ex about paying. She looked exactly like the landlady in this movie that I could not help doing a gesture, that landlady made to Woody resulting in Woody throwing up, to my ex. I thought he was going to throw up. My ex was able to use that washroom, we got a taxi that I haggled to a reasonable amount and looked like the taxi from “Planes, Train and Automobiles,” and we reached our hotel. Getting back to this movie, it is an under-rated film that is very funny.

3. THE BIG LEBOWSKI-1998

This is a cult film with Jeff Bridges as The Man! the Dude who is cooler than cool. The Coen Brothers wanted to make a film based on the Raymond Chandler films from the 40s with a convoluted plot that, in the end, you don’t care too much about. It’s all about the characters and The Dude is the cool one. He doesn’t do too much except for bowling and enjoying life doing as little as possible. I’ve tried to figure out the plot but, like “the Big Sleep,” I have to watch it many time to try and understand it. Jeff Bridges deserved an Oscar for his brilliant portrayal as the Dude who gets involved with thugs, kidnapping and other mayhem. It is worth watching and has become a cult film.

Can you think of anny other films that showcase Bowling?