Play It to the Bone

Play It to the Bone is a 1999 American sports comedy-drama film written and directed by Ron Shelton. It stars Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas as two boxers and best friends who travel together to Las Vegas to fight each other, with the winner receiving a match for the middleweight championship.

The film's supporting cast includes Lolita Davidovich, Tom Sizemore, Lucy Liu, and Robert Wagner. It was a critical and commercial bomb.

Plot
Aging prizefighters and longtime best friends Vince Boudreau and Cesar Dominguez always regretted not getting one last shot. Out of the blue, such an opportunity comes their way, but it is to fight each other. Boxing promoter Joe Domino has a problem on his hands. The fighters scheduled to be on his undercard in Las Vegas (a preliminary to a main event featuring heavyweight Mike Tyson) suddenly become unavailable at the last minute. He needs replacements fast, so a call is made to Los Angeles to see if Vince or Cesar would be available. Both are, and Domino decides to have them fight each other.

The boxers negotiate one condition: the winner will be given a chance to fight for the middleweight championship. Domino agrees, although the untrustworthy promoter is not necessarily a man of his word. Vince and Cesar have only a day to get to the fight. They decide to drive rather than fly, so they call upon their mutual friend and former shared love interest Grace to drive them. Grace's own plan is to pitch her various money-making ideas to Vegas bigshots like hotel and casino boss Hank Goody and raise venture capital. Along the way, they pick up a hitchhiker whose insults prompt Grace to knock her out.

The fight between the two friends is sparsely attended, with ringside fans and celebrities remaining uninterested until the night's main event. Agreeing to at least give the fans a show, Vince and Cesar turn up the intensity and beat each other so savagely that the crowd and TV commentators begin to pay attention. When the action-packed bout comes to an end with no winner, Vince and Cesar are both paid well, but spend most of their money in the casinos. Grace also comes away bruised and empty-handed, though she is content that she has forged an everlasting friendship between two hard-headed but soft-hearted guys.

Cast

 * Woody Harrelson as Vince Boudreau
 * Antonio Banderas as Cesar Dominguez
 * Lolita Davidovich as Grace Pasic
 * Tom Sizemore as Joe Domino
 * Lucy Liu as Lia
 * Robert Wagner as Hank Goody
 * Richard Masur as Artie
 * Willie Garson as "Cappie" Caplan

The film also features many cameo appearances by people such as Steve Lawrence, Tony Curtis, Wesley Snipes, Mike Tyson, George Foreman, Kevin Costner, Rod Stewart, Jennifer Tilly, Natasha Gregson Wagner, James Woods, Drew Carey, Jacob Duran, and Chuck Bodak.

Reception
The film garnered a generally poor reception, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a score of 11% based on 79 reviews and an average rating of 3.9 out of 10. The site's consensus states: "Flat characters and uninspired comedy yield forgettable results." Professional critical reception was similar, with Empire magazine giving it just 2 stars out of 5.