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Review by Susan Granger
1 star out of 4
From writer/director Ron Shelton we've come to expect good
sports movies like Bull Durham (baseball), Tin Cup (golf), and White
Men Can't Jump (basketball) but this flimsy, raunchy story about
over-the-hill boxers doesn't measure up. Woody Harrelson plays a bald,
tattooed eccentric who has found Jesus - but hasn't worked in
years. Neither has his rival and best-buddy, Antonio Banderas, who
happens to be dating his ex-girl-friend, Lolita Davidovich when,
suddenly, they get the chance of a lifetime. It seems two middleweight
fighters have canceled and a sleazy promoter (Tom Sizemore) asks them
to be the opening card of a Mike Tyson bout at Vegas' Mandalay Bay
Hotel. The job promises big money - $50,000 each - plus a bid for the
middleweight championship, but there's a catch: they have to get there
immediately. Fortunately, Davidovich has a grass-green 1972 Olds 442,
so they take off from L.A. scrambling through the sizzling
desert. Now, right away, one wonders why the hotel didn't send a jet -
or at least plane tickets - but that's part of the problem if the
underwritten script. Besides, half the film is spent on the road trip
in which we learn more than we ever wanted to know about the bickering
threesome, plus there's Lucy Liu as a free-spirited hitchhiker. By the
way, the title refers to the commitment of not quitting until you've
achieved your goal. Finally, the fighters get into the ring but, by
that time, I was ready to throw in the towel. On the Granger Movie
Gauge of 1 to 10, Play It To The Bone is a fumbling, flat-footed,
formulaic 3, filled with foul language. In one scene, Harrelson says:
"Any guy with any gal is a mismatch - we're just not equipped to go
the distance." Neither is this movie.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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out of 4
