Review of Play It to the Bone

Here we go on the old merry-go-round again. A great premise, an attractive cast, a solid director, and ultimately, a bad combination. I myself had been salivating at the idea of Woody Harrleson and Ron Shelton teaming up again. And they say good things come to those who wait ... NOT TRUE!!! The only person who packs a punch here is Lolita Davidovich, who provides the ONLY reason that one would want to see this movie. Mr. Harrleson and Mr. Banderas have both proven that they have screen charisma, and they have it here too, but they are not given much good dialogue nor understandable actions to undertake, so Ms. Davidovich (especially in the red-dress scenes) easily knocks them both out of her way. If you want to see Mr. Harrleson, go rent THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT, or turn on a re-run of CHEERS. For Mr. Banderas, rent DESPERADO and THE MASK OF ZORRO. For Mr. Shelton, rent WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP (his previous collaboration with Mr. Harrleson), BULL DURHAM, COBB (also with Ms. Davidovich and with a super performance by Tommy Lee Jones as the original SOB himself), or TIN CUP. For Ms. Davidovich, rent BLAZE.