Diggstown

Fresh out of prison, the con man Gabriel Caine makes a bet with John Gillon, who owns an entire town: one fighter of his choosing will beat the town's ten best men in a row inside twenty-four hours. The fighter is Honey Roy Palmer, who is closing on sixty. The subject is not boxing but the rules of the con. Both sides cheat, and the film draws its tension from who cheats better; what happens in the ring is usually the result of a decision taken outside it. The form moves fast: short scenes, quick dialogue, and the arithmetic changing after every bout. The fights work less as realism than as the counters of the narrative. The production separates itself from the popular boxing films of its time because its hero is not an athlete but a swindler. Louis Gossett Jr. was in his forties while playing a fighter approaching sixty, and put in serious physical preparation for it. Michael Ritchie directs. James Woods plays Caine, Louis Gossett Jr. the boxer and Oliver Platt his second. Who it is for: viewers who like con films and stories where both sides are cheating. Who it is not for: anyone wanting a realistic sports picture; the logic of the bouts bends to the needs of the plot.