Gabriel Caine is released from prison and his team is already setting up to be in play and let the games begin. James Woods is totally believable as a good confidence artist you can't keep down. Now there's the little matter of a place called Diggstown where if you keep your fingernails clean, you can end up robbing the whole place blind without ruining your manicure. Yeah, it's cheesy and stereotypical how the white man gets to play the brain or mastermind and the black guy plays the brawny muscle with heart and soul. But 'Honey' Roy Palmer is ready to do his sweet thing whether you sign on for the ride or not. So what's it gonna be? Are you in or out?
This film is of particular interest because it is the Heroic Plot Pattern flirting with themes of sacrifice or martyr without getting too serious about it. It's like the Twelve Labors of Hercules set in a boxing ring. Certainly improbable that a forty eight year old man could send ten good men to the canvas in twenty four hours. But it becomes wildly entertaining to see just how Caine and his team intends to get it done. Surprises abound in this spirited romp through chicanery mixed with sudden death and knockout blows. Lou Gossett Jr., through acting prowess alone sells you on the idea that he can take on any ten fighters in the town, despite having nothing special to show in the legs. You could say it is wisdom and experience over the ignorance of youth and unqualified vitality that gives Roy Palmer the advantage.
Meanwhile, Caine sets up his bets with the local town owner John Gillon played by Bruce Dern with southern fried menace and local mobster and loan shark Victor Corsini acting as a silent partner on Caine's behalf. Since Fitz as played by Oliver Platt in a laughably clever pool room scene has already prepped the scam, it behooves Caine now to establish the setting with Gillon for the main event. So the aging Palmer shaves his head and gets ready to rumble. He even gets to meet the man who the town is named after while doing roadwork, the nearly brain dead Charles Macom Diggs. This scene and deaths of Emily Forrester's brother Wolf Forrester and Hambone Busby's brother Slim, give the film it's dark edges, but at its center this movie is a lighthearted exercise in One-upmanship.
The fighters come and go through the ring, but at times it appears the real contest is between Caine and Gillon, as they match wits and execute their ploys against each other. Palmer shows his legendary skill, but each new opponent is diverting and offers something of a special, unexpected challenge. Perhaps one of the best parts of the movie are the witty asides that Woods and Gossett trade between rounds at ringside. Woods also tries to do Bogart with Heather Graham as Emily Forrester, but this takes neither of their character arcs very far. It's obvious he's this veteran and seasoned con man, and she's just a nice girl fresh out of college with no hint of the savvy Lauren Bacall had about her. Any hint of romantic involvement between them somehow simply reeks of jail bait, and besides his underhanded machinations have already gotten her brother killed, no matter how indirectly.
Directed by Michael Ritchie, the pacing tends to puts the moralizing to the side in a kind of shuffling of the cards to misdirection. The fight choreography and cinematography by Gerry Fisher keep you on the edge of your seat and at ringside looking eagerly forward to whatever may be happening next. James Newton Howard's musical score vibrantly captures the good ole boy folksy rhythms of this honky-tonk town. I tend to think that the leads and supporting characters are actually better than the material they are given, no matter how sharp and intelligent it appears to be. You even get to see Jim Caviezel take one on the chin before you get to know him better later on. But Diggstown proves to be a wild and woolly place to visit unless you've worked out all the angles and the odds in advance.
This film is of particular interest because it is the Heroic Plot Pattern flirting with themes of sacrifice or martyr without getting too serious about it. It's like the Twelve Labors of Hercules set in a boxing ring. Certainly improbable that a forty eight year old man could send ten good men to the canvas in twenty four hours. But it becomes wildly entertaining to see just how Caine and his team intends to get it done. Surprises abound in this spirited romp through chicanery mixed with sudden death and knockout blows. Lou Gossett Jr., through acting prowess alone sells you on the idea that he can take on any ten fighters in the town, despite having nothing special to show in the legs. You could say it is wisdom and experience over the ignorance of youth and unqualified vitality that gives Roy Palmer the advantage.
Meanwhile, Caine sets up his bets with the local town owner John Gillon played by Bruce Dern with southern fried menace and local mobster and loan shark Victor Corsini acting as a silent partner on Caine's behalf. Since Fitz as played by Oliver Platt in a laughably clever pool room scene has already prepped the scam, it behooves Caine now to establish the setting with Gillon for the main event. So the aging Palmer shaves his head and gets ready to rumble. He even gets to meet the man who the town is named after while doing roadwork, the nearly brain dead Charles Macom Diggs. This scene and deaths of Emily Forrester's brother Wolf Forrester and Hambone Busby's brother Slim, give the film it's dark edges, but at its center this movie is a lighthearted exercise in One-upmanship.
The fighters come and go through the ring, but at times it appears the real contest is between Caine and Gillon, as they match wits and execute their ploys against each other. Palmer shows his legendary skill, but each new opponent is diverting and offers something of a special, unexpected challenge. Perhaps one of the best parts of the movie are the witty asides that Woods and Gossett trade between rounds at ringside. Woods also tries to do Bogart with Heather Graham as Emily Forrester, but this takes neither of their character arcs very far. It's obvious he's this veteran and seasoned con man, and she's just a nice girl fresh out of college with no hint of the savvy Lauren Bacall had about her. Any hint of romantic involvement between them somehow simply reeks of jail bait, and besides his underhanded machinations have already gotten her brother killed, no matter how indirectly.
Directed by Michael Ritchie, the pacing tends to puts the moralizing to the side in a kind of shuffling of the cards to misdirection. The fight choreography and cinematography by Gerry Fisher keep you on the edge of your seat and at ringside looking eagerly forward to whatever may be happening next. James Newton Howard's musical score vibrantly captures the good ole boy folksy rhythms of this honky-tonk town. I tend to think that the leads and supporting characters are actually better than the material they are given, no matter how sharp and intelligent it appears to be. You even get to see Jim Caviezel take one on the chin before you get to know him better later on. But Diggstown proves to be a wild and woolly place to visit unless you've worked out all the angles and the odds in advance.