A League of Ordinary Gentlemen DVD with Wayne Webb, Walter Ray Williams, Timothy Busfield (NR) +Movie Reviews +Used DVD available for Swap

A lot of fun, and insightful

Madelyn Pryor | Mesa, AZ United States | 05/11/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a story of four very different men, channeled though the scope of profession bowling. It's a story of how the PBA (Professional Bowling Association) was rescued by a group of former computer executives looking for a new challenge. But more than all that, it's a story of a sport that many of us grew up with, how that was almost lost, and is being found again, one person at a time.

League of Ordinary Gentlemen is a well done, interesting documentary that mostly follows Walter Ray Williams, Jr., Pete Weber, Chris Barnes and Wayne Webb. The film takes us inside their lives and occasionally inside their mind, showing that it's not just one type of man that chooses to make his living bowling, nor is their one specific path to the PBA. Each and everyone is different. There's conflict, camaraderie, and an exciting ending.

Whether you like bowling, or even just remember your parents doing it when you were a kid, this is a great remembrance of that time. If you're just into watching documentaries, it's a fun one to view. If you're like me and you have both of those components, than check this film out.

Recommended.
"

Hilarious!

W. Bryan | New York CIty | 03/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You might think that a movie about pro bowling would be about as boring as well Bowling but nothing could be more off the mark. This doc is wonderfully done and has a wondeful mix of humor and heart leading to an exciting finale that ranks up there with Spellbound and Murderball. The mix of characters ranging from a burned out Karaoke singing bowler to a Hamlet-esque Bowling prodigy to a crazed Alpha male Bowling CEO leaves the viewer fully engaged. If you are a Doc fan or sports buff you need to see this movie."

At last, a bowling movie WE bowlers and bowling fans can be

Ray Jackson | Port Townsend, WA USA | 04/08/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Well folks, It's finally out on DVD, and I have been waiting for its DVD release since it came out in limited runs in theatres nationwide back in May 2005, predominantly in markets in which the Professional Bowlers' Association (www.PBA.com) hosts Denny's PBA Tour events.

It is the official movie of professional bowling, as endorsed by the PBA, filmed during the 2002-03 PBA Tour Season, A League Of Ordinary Gentlemen (www.BowlingMovie.com), which features four of the PBA's brightest stars:

41-time titlist and PBA/USBC (United States Bowling Congress, www.bowl.com) Hall Of Famer and 6-time world horseshoe pitching champion, Walter Ray Williams Jr.,

2005 U.S. Open champion and rising star and former Team USA great and All-American at Wichita State University, which has a tremendous collegiate bowling program led by their legendary coach Gordon Vatican, 6-time PBA champion, Chris Barnes,

"The Bad Boy of The PBA Tour", as shown by his track record of previous suspensions for misconduct, and son of the late great 26-time PBA champion, Dick Weber, and 32-time PBA titlist, "PDW" Pete Weber,

And finally, but not to be outdone, former 20-time champion, with 3 of those titles coming in events at Landmark Lanes in Peoria, Illinois (1989, 96, 97), PBA Hall Of Famer, Wayne Webb.

Anybody out there who wants to take a cheap shot at our great sport of bowling, in which my wife Alice Yantz and I enjoy very much (Alice and I are both league bowlers and proud USBC members who bowl at All-Star lanes in Silverdale, Washington, just 40 miles away from our home and BIGHMW.com headquarters here in Port Townsend), thanks mostly in part due to the negative image of it as portrayed by sham movies like Kingpin and The Big Lebowski will be awfully surprised when they see the REAL PBA Tour as well as the diametrically different roads that these four great professional bowlers take, week-in-and-week-out.

This movie is highly recommended by yours truly, as it ALSO features actual footage straight from ABC Sports of their legendary Professional Bowlers Tour series which featured broadcasting great, the late great Chris Schenkel, and that aired on Saturday Afternoons during January though July from 1962-1997 as part of "The ABC Sports one-two Punch", which was followed by ABC's Wide World Of Sports.
"

Out of the ordinary

J Kirk | Irvine, CA USA | 08/08/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is probably the best bowling themed movie ever. That may not be saying much given the history of bowling and bowling themed movies (Dreamer, Greedy, The Big Lebowski and Kingpin), but this is really a very compelling film. The choice of the four athletes followed is excellent as they are a diverse lot. Watching a bitter former great like Wayne Webb alternatively rail at the "new" PBA and then step back and realize that the new owners' vision it is what is allowing the Professional Bowlers Assn. to survive is very interesting. The movie is quick, about an hour and a half, and it easily could have been longer and still enjoyable. There's a great deal of focus (as there should be) on Walter Ray Williams, the current reigning great of the tour and Pete Weber, himself an all time great and perhaps the most compelling figue of the last 25 years. The movie misses an opportunity to focus on Walter Ray's obvious disgust with Weber's showboating, although it is obvious they both respect each other as players. Watching Steve Miller, the commissioner and a non-bowler, as he tries to build the tour "brand" is fascinating. It's obvious he really favors Weber, perhaps to the detriment of other pros. The film zips along and the "extras" are pretty good."

Insight into the lives of a pro bowler

Paul D. Hartley | Philippines | 06/26/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Be warned, I like watching bowling. As someone who used to bowled but could never break into the 200 average class, I am fascinated to watch the pros in action.

This tells the story of how a marketing guru tries to recreate the pba tour together with sponsorship and television coverage. There are no punches pulled when it comes to the difficulties of resurrecting a sport that has fallen on bad times. And it is interesting to see how, from a business angle, they went about doing this.

But the best part of this dvd is the insight into the lives of a few pro bowlers who were very frank about their lives and about their hopes and thoughts about the new venture. At the end of the dvd there is some interplay between two rivals (Walter Ray Williams Jnr and Peter Weber) and a showdown on the lanes to provide a fitting end to the film, but it is also fascinating to see into their lives, how they live, how their families cope or in most cases do not cope with their spouses on tour most of the time.

There are some good clips of past experts - not enough for my liking - but better than nothing.

I miss the old tournaments like the Firestone of Champions and I am not sure that the current pba has got the formula right to make the sport attractive to sponsors and advertisers. But if you like bowling and like to watch the pros in action and also want to see how it feels to be a pro bowler away from the limelight and the final day, then get this dvd; some very human stories here. One bowler describes how from a very young age he decided to make his living at bowling and how bowling seemed to be a permanent fixture in the sports arena. Now he feels cheated as this 'permanent' fixture has disappeared and his life to date seems completely wasted. A familiar story, not only in sport, but one told here with some honesty and openness."

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