Play It to the Bone

Play It to the Bone
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ron Shelton
Produced by	Stephen Chin Kellie Davis David V. Lester
Written by	Ron Shelton
Starring	Antonio Banderas Woody Harrelson Lolita Davidovich Tom Sizemore Lucy Liu Robert Wagner
Music by	Alex Wurman
Cinematography	Mark Vargo
Edited by	Patrick Flannery Paul Seydor
Production company	Touchstone Pictures
Distributed by	Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates	December 25, 1999 (1999-12-25)
Running time	124 min.
Budget	$24 million
Box office	$8.4 million

Play It to the Bone is a 1999 sports/comedy-drama film, starring Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson, written and directed by Ron Shelton.

It follows the adventures of two boxers and best friends who travel to Las Vegas in order to fight each other for the sake of a chance to compete for the middleweight title. The film also starred Lolita Davidovich, Tom Sizemore, Lucy Liu, and Robert Wagner.

Cameo appearances include: Steve Lawrence, Tony Curtis, Wesley Snipes, Mike Tyson, Kevin Costner, Rod Stewart, Jennifer Tilly, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Drew Carey and Chuck Bodak. The film was released to neither critical acclaim nor commercial success.

Plot

Aging prizefighters and longtime pals Cesar Dominguez (Banderas) and Vince Boudreau (Harrelson) always regretted not getting one last shot. Out of the blue, such an opportunity comes their way — except it is to fight each other.

Boxing promoter Joe Domino (Sizemore) has a problem on his hands. The fighters scheduled to be on his undercard in Vegas, a preliminary to a main event featuring heavyweight Mike Tyson, suddenly become unavailable at the last minute. He needs replacements fast, so a call is made to a gym in Los Angeles to see if Dominguez and Boudreau would be willing to step into the ring against one another.

The boxers negotiate one condition: that the winner will be given a chance to fight for the middleweight championship. Domino agrees, although the untrustworthy promoter is not necessarily a man of his word.

Cesar and Vince have only a day to get to the fight. They decide to drive rather than fly, so they call upon their friend Grace (Davidovich) to drive them in her lime green Oldsmobile 442. Grace is a former love interest of both. Grace's own plan is to pitch her various money-making ideas to Vegas bigshots like hotel and casino boss Hank Goody (Wagner) and raise venture capital. Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiker (Liu) whose insults finally result in Grace's flattening her with a solid right cross worthy of her traveling companions.

The fight between the two friends is sparsely attended, ringside fans and celebrities remaining uninterested until the night's main event. Cesar and Vince mix it up so savagely, however, beating each other to a bloody pulp, that fans in the arena begin paying more and more attention, as do commentators on TV.

When the action-packed and dramatic bout comes to an end, Cesar and Vince are paid off, but promptly spend most of their money in the casino. Grace, too, comes away bruised and empty-handed, except for her everlasting relationship between a couple of hard-headed but soft-hearted guys.

Reception

The film garnered a generally poor reception, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a score of 12% based on 78 reviews and an average rating of 3.9 out of 10.^[1] Professional critical reception was similar, with Empire magazine giving it just 2 stars out of 5.^[2]

References

External links

• Play It to the Bone at the Internet Movie Database
• Play It to the Bone at Box Office Mojo