Queenpins

2021   STX Films

Rated:  R

Length:  1 hr  50min

Comedy ~ Crime ~ True Story

Directed by:  Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly.

Starring:  Kristen BellKirby Howell-BaptistePaul Walter HauserBebe Rexha, and Vince Vaughn.

“When folks use coupons, their oxytocin levels, they kinda spike, like in they get that little tingly sensation. They call it “THE COUPON HIGH”.”

Kristen Bell stars as Connie Kaminski, a three time gold medal winning former Olympic racewalker, currently unemployed and unhappily married in Phoenix, Arizona. Frustrated by several unsuccessful attempts to get pregnant and have a child, Connie has thrown herself into the coupon world. Constantly clipping and stockpiling everything she can get her hands on in a spare bedroom that was going to be the baby room. Her husband Rick, an IRS Audit agent, starts taking on travelling assignments to spend less time at home with Connie as they both deal with the disappointment of not being able to have a child.

JoJo (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) is Connie’s best friend and is also unemployed and living with her mother. JoJo had her identity stolen and it completely ruined her financially. She has started a Youtube channel on saving money and using coupons. Connie and JoJo team up and start a coupon business together after Connie discovers that she can get free item coupons from big manufacturers just by writing a complaint letter. They start selling the coupons on their website SUPERSAVVYSHOPPER.COM. That grows into an illegal operation when Connie learns that the free coupons are printed right across the border in Mexico and hatches a plan to “acquire” them from the facility in Mexico.

They enlist the help of Tempe Tina (Bebe Rexha), who stole JoJo’s identity and is a cyber hacker, to help them set up the illegal coupon operation on a large scale. Ken (Paul Walter Hauser) is a Loss Prevention manager for the local grocery chain A&G where Connie has been using her coupons to shop. When their coupon business starts growing and people start using the coupons, it comes to Ken’s attention and he puts together a case file and approaches the FBI. It then comes to the attention of The Postal Service and Inspector Simon Kilmurry (Vince Vaughn) is assigned to the case.

And what follows is the incredible and hilarious True Story of how a couple of women in Phoenix, Arizona built an illegal multi-million dollar business and the two guys who tracked them down. Ken is a complete a**hole with an inferiority complex. The relationship between Ken and Agent Kilmurry is hilarious, as Ken is a wannabe Law Enforcement agent suddenly thrust into a would be partnership with a real Law enforcement agent. How Agent Kilmurry takes pity on Ken and treats him as an equal is kind of sad yet very funny.

Kristen BellKirby Howell-BaptistePaul Walter HauserBebe Rexha, and Vince Vaughn all do really good jobs in this movie. It is based on the true story and real life crime case of three women in Arizona. And you know I love the True Story movies. Definitely funny and worth a watch…BOGO!

Two Thumbs Up!