Play It to the Bone

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Play It to the Bone ★★ 1999 (R)

Harrelson and Banderas are fading boxers and best friends Vince and Cesar, who unexpectedly wind up in an under-card bout against each other. Since they need to get to Vegas, and didn't think to get travel money from the promoter, Cesar's girlfriend (and Vince's ex) Grace (Davidovich) agrees to drive them. Along the way, she uses her wiles to whip up their competitive juices to use in the fight. It works, as the excessively brutal fight sequence shows. Shelton's fifth attempt at sports movie success doesn't quite connect, as it's mostly an uninteresting road movie with boxing-movie cliches tacked onto both ends. 124m/C VHS, DVD . Woody Harrelson, Antonio Banderas, Lolita (David) Davidovich, Lucy Liu, Tom Sizemore, Robert Wagner, Richard Masur, Willie Garson, Cylk Cozart, Jack Carter; D: Ron Shelton; W: Ron Shelton; C: Mark Vargo; M: Alex Wurman.