A League of Ordinary Gentlemen

A League of Ordinary Gentlemen
by Christopher Browne

Our Price: $9.98
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $1.89 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD details

Actor: Pete Weber, Timothy Busfield, Walter Ray Williams, Wayne Webb
Director: Christopher Browne
Cinematographer: Ken Seng
Editor: David S. Tung
Editor: Kurt Engfehr
Producer: Alexander H. Browne
Producer: Wilhelmus Bryan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-03-21
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Magnolia

DVD Reviews of A League of Ordinary Gentlemen

DVD Review: Great for PBA fans!
Summary: 5 Stars

This is an excellent documentary about the "new" PBA. The stars of the show are Pete Weber, whose "bad boy" image is promoted by the former Nike exec that leads the PBA, and Wayne Webb, who made over a million on the tour in the 80's and 90's but is now broke. Fans of the "old" PBA may not like the movie as much.

DVD Review: PBA brought back to life
Summary: 5 Stars

There is a film company which makes only documentaries; its motto: "Everything else is just fiction". It is amazing how compelling documentaries--even documentaries about bowling--can be.

This film chronicles the renewal of the floundering Professional Bowlers Association tour. Three Microsoft employees purchase the PBA for 5 million dollars. They breathe life into the organization by hiring a foul-mouthed, Ironman executive, re-energizing a cocky bowling celebrity, and reinvigorating an aging bowling legend. Together they lead the tour back to the land of milk and. . .well, not quite. They all agree, bowling is not the sport, the pastime it once was in America in the 1960s-70s.

Remarkable, what is in this true tale: bluster, victory, chutzpah, loneliness, defeat. . .and lots of fat people.

DVD Review: Brings back a lot of memories
Summary: 4 Stars

Wow this really brings back memories of my past, can remember when on Saturday afternoons came around, we all went to the TV and watched Pro Bowlers Tour on ABC, and great to see someone try to bring back the times of the bowlers who give their all to not only make money for them and their family but also the ones who didn't know how to handle the money they did make during that time, only thing I wish now is the the present PBA would do is show the winnings for each week now, and try to get bowling back where is should be.

DVD Review: Insight into the lives of a pro bowler
Summary: 4 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.

DVD Review: A wonderful depiction on a much maligned sport
Summary: 5 Stars

I've been a huge bowling enthusiast for a long time now and I think this is was one of the more enjoyable documentaries I have seen in a long time. Watching the PBA on both ABC and now ESPN, it can appear to seem much more glamorous (yes I realize for most people to use "glamorous" to describe bowling might be inappropriate)but the reality is that it is very, very lonely.

As of current, Walter Ray Williams, Jr, Pete Weber, and Chris Barnes are all professional superstars and I believe all in the legitmate running for the Player of the Year. It was so interesting to see the behind the scenes struggles for each.

And then there is Wayne Webb, a very tragic story of a man who felt like he was owed more from bowling. I felt the movie captured perfectly his disdain for the new evolution of the sport.

Anyway an excellent insight into the business of the PBA and its champions.

Description of A League of Ordinary Gentlemen

In 1958 the professional bowlers association was born & quickly became one of the highest rated sports programs on tv. Then something happened: america ceased to embrace the pba. In 2000 3 former microsoft executives bought the pba to save bowling from the brink of extinction. Studio: Magnolia Pict Hm Ent Release Date: 11/07/2006 Run time: 93 minutes Rating: R

General DVDs

Genres > Drama
Sports > General

DVD Video

Bestsellers in General DVDs

Frost/ Nixon
Universal; Release date: 2009-04-21; DVD
Best price: $11.39
Price in other shops: ~~$29.98~~

Lost in Austen
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2009-04-14; DVD
Best price: $14.98
Price in other shops: ~~$27.98~~

Australia
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-03-03; DVD
Best price: $12.99
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

Doubt
Release date: 2009-04-07; DVD
Best price: $14.43
Price in other shops: ~~$29.99~~

True Blood: The Complete First Season (HBO Series)
Release date: 2009-05-19; DVD
Best price: $38.99
Price in other shops: ~~$59.99~~

Fireproof
Sony; Release date: 2009-01-27; DVD
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops: ~~$28.96~~

The Reader
Genius; Release date: 2009-04-14; DVD
Best price: $12.30
Price in other shops: ~~$29.95~~

The Wrestler
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-04-21; DVD
Best price: $11.49
Price in other shops: ~~$29.98~~

Marley and Me (Single-Disc Edition)
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-03-31; DVD
Best price: $10.55
Price in other shops: ~~$29.98~~

Slumdog Millionaire
Twentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-03-31; DVD
Best price: $10.40
Price in other shops: ~~$29.98~~

Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs

The Big Lebowski - 10th Anniversary Edition
Universal; Release date: 2008-09-09; DVD
Best price: $9.99
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Sport Psychology Library: Bowling
by Fred Borden, Jeri Edwards Dr. Eric S Lasser
Fitness Information Technology; Published: 2006-04-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $48.00

Bowling Lessons from the Pros
Release date: 2006-12-01; DVD
Best price: $30.00

The New Bowling Trivia Book
by Donald Williams
Evergreen Pub. Group; Published: 2003-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: ~~$9.95~~

From Gutterballs to Strikes
by Mike Durbin, Dan Herbst
McGraw-Hill; Published: 1998-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.23
Price in other shops: ~~$14.95~~

Bowling Fundamentals (Sport Fundamental Series)
by Michelle Mullen
Human Kinetics; Human Kinetics Publishers; Published: 2003-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops: ~~$16.95~~

Bowling Execution
by John Jowdy
Human Kinetics Publishers; Published: 2009-02-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.71
Price in other shops: ~~$19.95~~