This buddy/boxing pic involves Vince (Woody Harrelson) and Cesar (Antonio Banderas), two washed-up fighters who have received a phone call to be last-minute replacements on a Mike Tyson undercard in Las Vegas. But of course, there are complications. They've been friends for many years, although they've never fought each other in the ring. Oh, and they both dated the same woman (Lolita Davidovich), who drives them both to Vegas - and dumps Cesar on the way!
Half of this movie is spent showing the guys traveling to Vegas from Los Angeles, squabbling along the way, picking up a slutty ingenue (Lucy Liu), and half is spent actually fighting the fight. I guess the reason for this is so there can be all sorts of suspense and tension built up during the road trip, as years of pent-up frustration can sufficiently simmer for the allegorical fight in the ring.
How much you enjoy this film will depend on a few variables - your tolerance for the cinematic stylings of Harrelson and Banderas, your affinity for pro boxing, and your love of violence in sport. It's often been said that there's a certain poetry to boxing, an art form in which the medium is blood and fists, but this film, for all of its slow-motion camerawork, doesn't exactly evoke comparisons to ballet.
I can't say that the acting is magnificent, because the actors don't act as much as they simply exist. The two male leads are very appealing in this light comedic romp, and they both play off Davidovich's character perfectly. There's plenty of sexual tension during the drive to Vegas, and that's a testament to the three main characters. The only debit is Liu's annoying skank - she wasn't very necessary and detracted from the story a little too much.
Half of this movie is spent showing the guys traveling to Vegas from Los Angeles, squabbling along the way, picking up a slutty ingenue (Lucy Liu), and half is spent actually fighting the fight. I guess the reason for this is so there can be all sorts of suspense and tension built up during the road trip, as years of pent-up frustration can sufficiently simmer for the allegorical fight in the ring.
How much you enjoy this film will depend on a few variables - your tolerance for the cinematic stylings of Harrelson and Banderas, your affinity for pro boxing, and your love of violence in sport. It's often been said that there's a certain poetry to boxing, an art form in which the medium is blood and fists, but this film, for all of its slow-motion camerawork, doesn't exactly evoke comparisons to ballet.
I can't say that the acting is magnificent, because the actors don't act as much as they simply exist. The two male leads are very appealing in this light comedic romp, and they both play off Davidovich's character perfectly. There's plenty of sexual tension during the drive to Vegas, and that's a testament to the three main characters. The only debit is Liu's annoying skank - she wasn't very necessary and detracted from the story a little too much.