The cast of the movie is really great, and they're given some good dialogue. The only problem is that it quickly becomes clear James Woods, as the lovable-rogue con man, is all lovable and not much of a rogue; while Bruce Dern, as the evil mayor of Diggstown, is all evil. You know there are going to be some twists along the way to the end, but one sort of twist gets ruled out fairly quickly, namely, the kind where you find out you may have been rooting for the wrong party.
The movie involves a series of boxing matches, and all kinds of surprises can arise involving the details of each matchup. But I didn't find them too surprising; at the end you feel kind of deflated, asking, Isn't there one more twist coming? Louis Gossett, Jr., as the boxer, isn't given much to do. Heather Graham is given almost nothing to do. She looks great; in her later movies she looks like an anorexic. Oliver Platt's part is completely routine as Woods's sidekick.
The movie involves a series of boxing matches, and all kinds of surprises can arise involving the details of each matchup. But I didn't find them too surprising; at the end you feel kind of deflated, asking, Isn't there one more twist coming? Louis Gossett, Jr., as the boxer, isn't given much to do. Heather Graham is given almost nothing to do. She looks great; in her later movies she looks like an anorexic. Oliver Platt's part is completely routine as Woods's sidekick.