The sight of a weighty ball thudding onto a wooden lane then rumbling towards twelve perfectly placed pins has long captured the imaginations of Americans across the country. But while many people love to bowl, its status as a spectator sport is almost nonexistent. However, in 2000, three former Microsoft employees attempted to change the face of bowling by buying the PBA (Professional Bowlers Association) and giving the sport a much-needed makeover. This piqued the interest of budding documentary filmmaker Chris Browne, who follows a number of key figures from the sport in this film. Pete Weber is the self-styled bad boy of the sport, has 23 titles to his name, and been divorced three times; Chris Barnes is the baby of the PBA at 35-years-old, misses his family while he's on the road, and frets about his earnings; Walter Ray Williams Jr. is quiet, intelligent, and a champion horseshoe thrower; Wayne Webb has a gambling problem, runs a karaoke business, and fears his best days are behind him. It's these four men that Browne focuses on, alongside Steve Miller, a former marketing man for Nike who has been recruited for his effusive manner, boundless enthusiasm, and ability to get results. Insecurities, doubts, and fears plague all of the men at some point during the movie, with Browne expertly capturing the transitory phase the bowlers go through as their profession radically changes around them. Not all are happy about what they see, but Miller's verbose nature usually manages to charm them into accepting these alterations. A riveting study of a sport reaching a major turning point in its evolution, A LEAGUE OF ORDINARY GENTLEMEN is also a touching study of the participants whose lives depend on the decisions taken for them.
