Play It to the Bone

All in all, this is an okay film. The plot is very simple, and the characters are fairly interesting. I understand that this movie is supposed to be about second chances, but I couldn't help but think after the movie's very predictable ending, what the hell was the point of the movie? What was the epiphany reached, and what was the point of characters like Lucy Liu being in the story? 90% of the film is spent during the car ride to Vegas, which is good and bad, it gives a personal touch to a movie, yet does get kind of old after a while. I like Woody Harelson's character b\c I can relate to him in a lot of respects. One thing I found unrealistic, no chick would ever ditch Antonio 'de sexy' Banderas, I almost laughed when she 'broke up' with him. Antonio also looked a little weak for a boxer, but the fight scene in the end was not effected by it. The end is actually the best part of the movie, yet it is very predictable. Overall, not a bad friday night movie if you have some time to kill and a few beers to pounce. 6/10

This movie is purely amazing. Antonio Banderas (Caesar) and Woody Harelson (Vince) work together better than any couple since Walter Matheau and Jack Lemmon. It is pure poetry watching them play off of each other.

This actually wins the award for the worst movie I've ever seen. I give that award seriously. I've seen everything. At one point in this movie I said, "If she (Lolita D) laughs again for no reason in that annoying way, then I'm going to turn this off." seconds later she laughed for no reason in that annoying way for about the millionth time in the movie. I turned it off and have never seen the ending. One day I will muster the courage and watch it again. Like torture. to make me appreciate good movies. This movie is so canned that it looked like it written and directed by the same person...Hey! IT WAS written and directed by the same person. Ron Shelton. Classic movie idea of the week that fulfills his contract and Woody's and Antonio's. What did the story sessions sound like in Shelton's head? "Let's make them doctors....no, basketball players. No, that movie has already been made. Didn't I make it in 1992? Oh, yeah. How about boxers? Yeah. And they'll be totally out of shape. Or maybe I'll just direct the fighting in such a way that you can't tell they are out of shape. yeah. and they'll drive for 60 minutes from L.A. to Vegas so I can keep it under budget and take care of that favor I owe the guy at MGM. Sure. And there will be a prostitute. And they will take bathroom breaks. And there will be expensive cars. We want the 15 year old kids who are stoned and who snuck into the movie to be happy. So the hooker will have sex on a pile of tires. Yeah. that's funny. Will we need a script? Naw. why bother? we need to make this movie in six days because I've got to go to Hawaii to play golf. So no script. And if we can't get Antonio Banderas then well use Lorenzo Lamas. No one will know the difference. Or maybe Woody will just talk to himself and we'll treat it like a David Lynch movie. They will ad lib everything. The important thing is to imply a lot of raunchy sex and to waste as much time in the desert as possible. And when in doubt we can just play Motown songs for 11 minutes. That will keep the stoned kids awake." After that Shelton wrote this down on a napkin and got his agent to broker the deal. a week later the movie was in the can. a month later it was in a video store collecting dust. five years later I picked it up because I'd seen everything else. an hour into it I sat with an absolute blank look on my face and announced "If she laughs for no reason one more time..." the rest is history.

'Play It to the Bone' is underrated and definitely underseen. It's just fun to watch. In fact this movie is perfect. The cast, the acting, the direction, the story, are all perfect. You see, nowadays we are used to these super-productions with uncontrollable budgets, that they are ultimately nothing too special. To me 'Play It to the Bone' is a work of art a lot more important than 'Phantom Menace' or 'Lord of the Rings-whichever part'. Furthermore 'Play It to the Bone' is actually one of the best boxing movies. And the celebrity cameos are nice. This movie has got humor, suspense, a solid story and substance. I have seen it many times occasionally on TV and it still feels fresh every time I watch it. 10/10

Not too many boxing films are comedies, but this is one of them (even though it is also a drama). Mainly thanks to sports film-maker Ron Shelton, who has brought to the screen films from all facets of sports (baseball- Bull Durham and Cobb, golf- Tin Cup and Basketball- White Man Can't Jump and Blue Chips). Now, he has brought boxing. But the film isn't really about boxing (like Raging Bull or Rocky was) as it is about the people who are going to be in the match- 2 good friends (Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas) who take a day trip from L.A. to Las Vegas to fight in the undercard for Mike Tyson (is Tyson still allowed to fight in Vegas anyway). Some great characterizations from them and they're girl (Lolita Davidovich) as they travel to Vegas, so except for the brutal yet exceptional fight at the end, most of the film is about people and not sports, as Shelton does in most of his films. Good, but not great for Shelton, but also good for sports films. A-

I found this to be a refreshing buddy movie. Refreshing in that the buddies, Vince (Woody Harrelson) and Cesar (Antonio Banderas), aren't so polar in their personalities that they aren't always clashing in the usual clichéd manner. That is, one isn't a lot more fast-talking than than the other, or more wilder, or more idiosyncratic. They're just a couple of sweet dim-bulb washed-up boxers who mean well and are the best of friends. When the under-card boxers for a big-time Vegas boxing event (Mike Tyson vs someone) both can't fight - seeing as one's dead and one's drugged-up to the max, Vince and Cesar get the call to take their places in the match that very night. They have to fight each other, yet it's their shot for each of them to redeem themselves in the boxing world. This flick's half road movie, half sports movie, and all buddy movie, and the structure works. During the road trip from L.A. to Vegas, we get to know these guys and their former girl friend, Grace (Lolita Davidovich). During the trip, their idiosyncrasies, usually forgiven through friendship, begin to grate on each other, and their secrets, and their feelings of rivalry and jealousies, which they usually keep hidden, come to the surface. All of it builds in tension as they get closer to Vegas and the big fight. But, when they arrive for the fight itself, we know that these guys still love each other, and we've come to like them. So who to root for during the boxing match? Seeing them prove that they're both good boxers and that either one of them could win makes for great dramatic tension, just the right stuff for a sports movie. The boxing itself is terrifically filmed as we feel every blow and wince for each one of them. The ending is kind of predictable, satisfying and yet dissatisfying at the same time. Do they actually redeem themselves? It's hard to tell. Lucy Lui makes an appearance, but she seems to be there just to be annoying and to have sex with Vince. It stirs up the frustrated Cesar, but, story-wise, that's about it. Fortunately, she doesn't stick around for long. There are some genuine laugh-out-loud moments in the movie and it's got a lot of heart. Harrelson, Banderas, and Davidovich are right-on in their performances. If you're looking for a straight-forward sports movie, you'll be disappointed. But Shelton's movies have always been more about character, anyway. It's all about a deep friendship that's truly tested in every way. This is a character-driven movie that builds up to some great boxing that's well worth the trip.

This film isn't much. Dumb plot, few laughs, and a good boxing bout between two men who were given a second chance to show the people that they got what it takes to become a champ. Neither of them walk away a winner- (predictable) but instead walk away with a newly improved friendship. This is surely a forgettable film, but doesn't fail to entertain. If you go to Blockbuster at 9:00 on a Friday night and 2/3's of their movies are rented out. Rent this one...Its good for a few laughs. 5.8/10

No. That's my one word review of this Godawful movie that made me not wish for my rental fee back as much as the 100 minutes of my life I had wasted watching it back. I rented it because the set-up sounded kind of interesting and--OK, I'm lying, I rented it because Antonio Banderas is so damn sexy I usually can't follow the plot of any movie he's in because I'm focusing all my concentration on trying not to drool openly, and Woody Harrelson is also pretty sexy (though not as easy on the eyes). I also like Lolita Davidovich. And movies set in Vegas. I remember a lot of buzz around the time the film opened about how Davidovitch only got the role because she was involved with the director, which makes me mad. The part was well-written (the only female in the movie who wasn't a stereotype)-she plays a sexy, gutsy, tough, intelligent lady who knows she is in charge and knows what she wants. She (OK, and getting to watch Banderas) was the only reason I didn't just rewind this movie halfway through and return it without even watching the rest. What happens to her in one of the final scenes of the movie is so depressing and infuriating that it ruined any enjoyment I had gotten out of watching her character kick butt and take charge during the entire movie. The only other main female character, played by Lucy Liu, is only there for...well, I don't know what she was in ther for, now that I think of it, except maybe the filmmakers worried that Davidovich was over 30 so she wouldn't hold the male audience's attention (wrong, by the way). You know the Norm McDonald movie "Dirty Work"? Well, I swear to God that Liu's character and the character in Dirty Work billed as the Saigon * who bites off Chris Farley's nose are interchangeable. Asain women were probably not especially overjoyed seeing the stereotype of the loudmouthed, sleazy, bitchy dragon lady yet again, especially by such a generally well-respected (well, until "Charlie's Angels" comes out) actress. Also, was there even a screenwriter for this film, or did they improvise most of it as they went along? The end fight scenes are well-filmed and hold your attention (except when characters start having bizarre halluciations that have no bearing whatsoever on the character or plot and seem to have just been added to toss in a little T&A...I notice Jimmy Woods and Drew Carey make cameos as themselves, so maybe the filmmakers tossed the * shots in as a little perk for them). After awhile, though, I couldn't stand watching the two good-looking actors beat each other bloody in graphic detail (even though Harrelson's nose already looks like it is pressed against a window...sorry Woody). The acting is good, but couldn't save this terrible movie. It didn't entertain me, which is all I really look for in a movie (though I woke up a little seeing Banderas and Harrelson in a full-body shower room scene, with no butt-doubles). This also has the dubious distinction in my book of being the only movie I've seen set in Las Vegas that made me NOT want to hop on a plane and rush down to Sin City. "Play it to the Bone" is one of the few movies where I was in a perfectly fine mood when I started watching it, but after it was over, I was crabby and gloomy. For what my opinion is worth, not recommended.

A boxing film from minor or no league sports milieu chronicler Ron Shelton (Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump) with the not exactly untested talents of Antonio Banderas, Woody Harrelson, Tom Sizemore, Robert Wagner, Richard Masur, Lolita Davidovich and Lucy Liu. What's wrong with this picture? Nothing once you get to the last third and the actual fight ensues. It's the first 90 minutes that's not quite a knock out. In our overly commercialized and celebrity athlete obsessed world culture, Shelton has made a career out of showing us the world of the also-rans (and jumped and hit and thrown, etc.). For every record breaking multi-millioned contract holder making even more telling the world to guzzle the Gatorade, there's a hundred guys like "Durham's" Crash Davis trying to eke out one more season before taking a job at the sports shop or hardware store. This is "Bone's" big stumble, not really establishing what kinda of lives these two has-beens lead now that they are reduced to working as sparring partners at a no-name local L.A. gym. Shelton would have written this a whole lot smarter if he had picked a venue he knew better back east, say New Orleans or St. Louis for Banderas' Cesar and Harrelson's Vince to hail from. It would have made the road trip a helluva lot more interesting visually, moving through prairie to mountains to desert. Instead, we get dried brush and rocks as back drop for Cesar and Vince's back and forth that is supposed to tell us who they are. And who they are isn't all that interesting, which is what's going to doom this film with audiences. This is story that starts off in the most contrived way. In a chain of events that starts with the undercard of a Mike Tyson fight in Vegas getting hopelessly stoned and haplessly dead, respectively, we are then asked to believe that the promoter would even in panic call two guys who don't even really fight any more. The film really needs the audience to believe and believe in these guys after this and Shelton fails to make Vince and Cesar unique enough. People might plunk down their eight bucks for a flick with stupendous special effects, but a great fight? Which is the one thing that "Play It To The Bone" has - a helluva fight. For filmgoers who thought the book had been written on showing a boxing match with either the high art stylization of "Raging Bull" or the pop art sequences of the Rocky franchise, prepare for the most brutally realistic display of the sweet science yet shown. In a sequence that uses a refreshing paucity of slow-mo shots, we are taken through ten rounds of sympathy-welt-raising fisticuffs. At least we know the time Shelton didn't spend on researching his characters wasn't wasted hobnobbing with Tyson and the other real-life boxing personalities who pop up in cameos during this section. It was spent watching God knows how many hours of old boxing film. The sequence also manages a subtle commentary on the empty spectacle of such "event" sporting events, as the oblivious main event crowd gets sucked into Vince and Cesar's career defining contest. Here's what a boxing match is supposed to be about: two hungry guys out to prove they are top dog. And right up to the conclusion Shelton is on his way to making the first uninspired 90 minutes disappear - then he pulls his last punches and ruins it. This is when the anemic character develpment and unorginality catches up with him. The audience feels sucker-punched going out the door.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. You are out! Exactly. This movie stunk. It should of been counted out at the opening credits. Boring, stupid, and boring interactions between the three main characters. Gay bashing that never ended. No sparks between any of the stars. They were all flat, dull, boring, and lifeless. With the exception of a hot red dress, there is nothing of any interest to recall here. If you want to see boxing classics, rent The Set-Up, Body and Soul, or Fat City. If you're looking for comedy boxing, The Kid From Brookyln with Danny Kay is a great bet. As for Play It To The Bon, count to ten and forget about it!