(Rated R, 124 min.)
Opens Jan. 14
Antonio Banderas and Woody Harrelson throw all the laugh punches as relatively unknown boxers Caesar Dominguez and Vince Boudreau, respectively. From out of the blue they receive a call from sports promoter Joe Domino (Tom Sizemore) and hotel magnet Hank Goody (Robert Wagner), who are desperate to replace the suddenly indisposed undercard in a worldwide pay-per-view bout between Tyson and Holyfield. The two welterweights are offered the chance to spill a little blood and collect a lot of loot. Although it’s probably their last shot at boxing’s big time, the two take an unexpected road trip through the sizzling desert with quirky girlfriend Grace (Lolita Davidovich) and hitchhiker Lisa (Lucy Liu).
Director Ron Shelton is known for such sports hits as “Bull Durham,” yet this sports-line gets lost on dragged out character development via long dialogue stretches. For a boxing movie, it’s not as “punchy” as one would have expected.