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Rating: Country: U.S.A. Release Date: March 21, 2006 Distributor: Magnolia Director: · Christopher Browne Cast: · Wayne Webb · Pete Weber · Walter Ray Williams, Jr. · Chris Barnes Related Sites: · Official Site · Professional Bowlers Association Grade: A-

Memories of professional bowling take me back to Saturday afternoons watching the likes of Norm Duke or Brian Voss roll for the prize on television, framed by Chris Schenkel's hushed commentary. In my easily-amused youth, I thought it was cool that the name of our governor Anthony Earl was a juxtaposition of Hall of Fame bowler Earl Anthony. The Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) was just one of those institutions that would always be there. Having fallen off my TV viewing radar for some years, I was only vaguely aware that ABC had ended its 35-year association with the PBA and stopped broadcasting games at the end of 1997. I was even less cognizant of the PBA's subsequent near-extinction.

A League of Ordinary Gentleman chronicles the PBA's tumble into the gutter of sports consciousness to its struggle to reinvent itself in the new world of sports as entertainment. This sublime documentary from Chris Browne spends a year on tour with four bowlers, all at decidedly differing points of their career, as each contends with the direction of the "new" PBA. Walter Ray Williams, Jr. is a 39-time tour winner and laid-back former physics teacher who has also won his share of horseshoe championships. Pete Weber is the son of bowling legend Dick Weber who has charted his own course through the sport with his bad-boy antics and attitude. Chris Barnes is the relative newcomer who worries about how he will consistently support his young family through tour earnings. Wayne Webb is the fading star who hopes for one more successful season on tour because his gambling habits have put him in financial straits.

Things had gotten so bad for the PBA that the entire league was sold to three former Microsoft executives in 2000 for a mere five million dollars. They hire ex-Nike marketing guru Steve Miller to formulate a plan for professional bowling's resurrection. The tone of the reconstruction is set at a pre-season players meeting, where Miller launches into a profanity-laden speech (this is the bulk of the language that earned this work an R rating) spelling out the hard changes that will have to take place for the league to survive. "Either we’re in this together, or you can kiss my ass,” he concludes. Our cast of characters is none too keen to pucker up, though each realizes and appreciates the efforts made to save their livelihood. The challenge lies in taking this group of ordinary guys and transforming them into larger-than-life media darlings that seem to be the mainstay of more successful sports.

The film tracks our bowlers through the 2003 season, which culminates in the first-ever season-ending "world championship" match that (fortunately for the filmmakers) features two of the people they have been following all year. But just when you think the players have succeeded in becoming superstars, we witness the winner of the PBA World Championship brushing snow and ice off the top of his Winnebago so that it's ready for travel right after earning his $100,000 prize. The PBA is trying hard to distance itself from its perceived blue-collar, beer-guzzling roots, embracing flashy players like Weber with his signature "crotch-chop" gesture of intimidation. Yet, its efforts to update itself by becoming louder and brasher and "cooler" almost overcome the simple pleasure of the sport. This documentary is extraordinarily candid in its depictions of life on the road, and a fascinating study into the rejuvenation of a professional sport, and what it takes to capture the ever-shortening attention of the viewing public.

Special Features

• "Bowling: The Music Video," a video montage over a humorous folksy song that ends with someone commenting: "It's a great sport. You get to drink while you're bowling... What more could you ask for?"
• "SuperFan - Chris Alderucci," PBA #1 fan & registered nurse. This is his story.
• "Randy Pedersen," bowler, broadcaster and family man.
• "Smooth Daddy," bowler Brian Voss wins a tournament in front of his two boys.
• "Tinseltown," PBA heart throb RD Miller has dreams of Hollywood super stardom and bowling immortality.

PBA/ESPN TV Spots - ESPN promotional TV spots titled "Oil Patterns," "Finishing Work," and "Follow Through."

Skills Challenge Highlights - Shows some cool bowling tricks such as rolling two balls at the same time to pick up a split, bowling between people standing on the lane and between chairs placed strategically along the lane, and converting a split... over two lanes!

PBA Event Clips

• "Tulsa Championship 2005," an ESPN feature recapping the 2004-05 PBA season.
• "Rising Star," a video segment from the USBC Masters 2005 featuring Tommy Jones' breakout season.
• "Dexter Approaches: Tips & Techniques," four individual features of Randy Pedersen's "The Dexter Approach" bowling tips segment.

Theatrical Trailer

Also from Magnolia Home Ent. - Bubble, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Klepto, Pulse, The Seat Filler, The War Within