Kingpin is a film about
Roy Munson, a champion bowler who once had a promising career.
In 1979 Roy won the Iowa state championship for amateur
bowlers. After winning the tournament, he toured the
tournament circuit where he met Dave Ozio, a pro-bowler and
con man. Dave realized that money could be made with this kid.
Therefore, he convinced Roy that he could make some easy money
bowling if he followed Dave's instructions. Unfortunately, at
their first and last con job, the men they conned did the
unexpected and came after them. Dave left Roy there to face
the angry mob himself and the results were disastrous. As
punishment for conning them, the men put Roy's bowling hand
into the ball return hole, cutting his hand off.
Sixteen years later,
Roy is a conman who sells bowling supplies to area bowling
alleys. He has a prosthetic arm with a hook and a plastic hand
attached to the end. One day while Roy is working, he sees a
guy bowling at the local alley and is very impressed. Later he
finds out that the guys name is Ishmael and he is Amish. Roy
is convinced that Ishmal could be a pro-bowler and win the
million dollar national bowlers tournament coming up in
Nevada. He is so determined that he goes out to the Amish
community and posses as a member from out of town. Roy finally
convinces Ishmal to go to the tournament after informing him
that he could win enough money to pay off the land debt the
Amish community owes to the bank.
While on the road,
Roy teaches Ishmal the art of the con game, but it is when
they meet Claudia, another con, that they really start to make
some money. When they get to Nevada for the tournament, Ishmal
gets into a fight and injures his bowling hand. At the same
time, they find out that Claudia has disappeared with all
their money. Ishmal convinces Roy to enter the tournament in
his place. Roy makes it to the final game but his opponent is
Dave Ozio. Dave wins the tournament and when Roy turns to the
crowd looking for Ishmal, he is gone. Roy later finds out that
Ishmal's brother had shown up during the last game and had
taken him back home.
After the
tournament, Roy is offered $500,000 to make personal
appearances for a company who makes bowling products. Claudia
also returns and tells Roy that she loves him. The couple are
reunited. Later they drive out to the Amish community and
present Ishmal with the check to pay off the land debt.
Animal Action:
In one scene, while
at the Amish community, Roy is asked to remove the shoes from
a very tall horse. When he comes out of the barn he is
carrying what is supposed to be the horse's hooves. You never
see Roy in the horse's stall. Later the horse is shown in a
large stall and he looks to be much shorter.
In another scene,
Ishmal's dog is seen grabbing the fingers of Roy's fake hand
and growling. For this scene, the trainer placed a gaff (a
device similar to a retainer that pushes the animals' lip up,
simulating a snarl) on the dog's mouth. A plastic tie
connected the rubber hand and the gaff, so as the hand is
pulled away from the dog, the gaff is simultaneously pulled,
giving the illusion that the dog is snarling.
There is also scene
where Roy and Claudia are looking for Ishmal and they stop at
a gas station. The station is also a reptile farm. When they
approach the building, the attendant is holding a snake. As
the man talks to Roy and Claudia he bites the side of the
snakes head. A fake snake was used for this segment.
Other animal action
consists of a few scenes where horses are seen hitched to
carriages as they are driven down the road by Amish people.
Ishmal's brother is also seen sitting at a toll booth with his
horse and buggy. When Roy is at the Amish community, farm
animals such as chickens and horses are seen in the background
and in the barn. In the last scene a ladybug is seen crawling
on Roy's hand and then it flies away. The horses were actually
the property of the Amish people. The other livestock was the
property of the owners of the farm where the scenes were shot.
