Gabriel Caine (James Woods) is a con who helps others escape from prison. He gets released. With the help of fellow inmate Wolf Forrester (Randall 'Tex' Cobb)'s sister Emily (Heather Graham) and his partner Fitz (Oliver Platt), he is setting up a con in boxing obsessed Diggstown. He loses a bet to John Gillon (Bruce Dern) when he commands a boxer to take a dive. Corrupt Gillon owns the town. Gillon's son loses his new car to Fitz. Charles Macum Diggs, the namesake of the town, knocked out 5 fighters in one day. Fitz claims that "Honey" Roy Palmer (Louis Gossett Jr.) could knock out 10 Diggstown men in 24 hours. Fitz ends up betting $100k to Gillon's $10k with Gabe's backing.
The most interesting thing is finding out what the con actually is because the bet is so lopsided. Woods is a great con man. It's a role that he's built for. Oliver Platt is a terrific sidekick. LGJ has some good chemistry with Woods. The con is a bit weak. It relies a bit too much on Honey's boxing and Gillon's hubris. I hoped for a more inventive con or at least a way to show that Gabe is somehow maneuvering the pieces every inch of the way.
The most interesting thing is finding out what the con actually is because the bet is so lopsided. Woods is a great con man. It's a role that he's built for. Oliver Platt is a terrific sidekick. LGJ has some good chemistry with Woods. The con is a bit weak. It relies a bit too much on Honey's boxing and Gillon's hubris. I hoped for a more inventive con or at least a way to show that Gabe is somehow maneuvering the pieces every inch of the way.