Diggstown

Starring:James Woods, Louis Gossett Jr., Bruce Dern, Oliver Platt, Heather Graham, Randall 'Tex' Cobb, Thomas Wilson Brown, Duane Davis, David Fresco, Willie Green, Orestes Matacena, Kim Robillard, John Short, Michael McGrady, Roger Hewlett, Rocky Pepeli, Jeff Benson, James Caviezel, Frank Collison, Marshall Bell
Director: Michael Ritchie
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

For some reason, James Woods seldom does straight comedies, but this 1992 film comes close. Playing Gabriel Caine, a con man fresh out of jail, Woods teams up with aging prizefighter "Honey" Roy Palmer (Louis Gossett Jr.) to run a scam on the boss of Diggstown, John Gillon (Bruce Dern). The bet: that "Honey" Roy can defeat any 10 boxers that Gillon throws at him in 24 hours. A combination of scams and double-crosses ensues, in which Woods, at his motor-mouth best, spars wonderfully (verbally, of course) with both Dern and Gossett. Working with director Michael Ritchie, who thrives in a milieu that involves competition, Woods has fun in an underrated comedy-thriller. It's more The Sting than Raging Bull, and thankfully so. --Marshall Fine

Description

The con is on and so are the laughs in this two-fisted comedy packed with surprises and "rock 'em sock 'em action" (David Sheehan, KNBC). James Woods and Academy AwardÂ(r) winner* Louis Gossett, Jr. are a potent one-two punch as a pair of mismatched partners in for the scam of their lives in a "movie that's hard to resist" (Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune). For con artist Gabriel Caine (Woods), Diggstown is the promised land, legendary for its high-stakes boxing matches that attract high rollers from miles around. Gabe, recognizing a golden opportunity, bets the town's powerful boss (Bruce Dern) that his fighter will defeat ten opponents in 24 hours. It's far from a sure thing, though, since Gabe's fighter is "Honey" Roy Palmer (Gossett, Jr.), a cranky, over-the-hill 48-year-old who has just come out of retirement. But Roy comes out swinging, pulverizing one contender after another, leading to a final exciting bout that may decide the ownership of the town itself! *1982: Supporting Actor, An Officer and a Gentleman

Customer Reviews:

The ultimate con.......2007-05-14

If you like twists and turns you'll love it. The ending will leave you doing the Tiger Woods "fist pump".

Great Movie!.......2007-05-03

Great movie! Even if parts of it wasn't filmed just a few blocks away from my house I would still love the movie. I was so impressed by how they turned old town Roseville California into a town in Georgia. They put new fronts on existing businesses with signs depicting Georgia. Then to watch the movie, what a story. Great Movie.

Like "The Sting" except more exciting.......2007-04-01

This film gets everything right: excitement, humor, characters, and an extremely satisfying ending. I never get tired of watching this movie. If the Spike channel ran this film as often as TNT ran "The Shawshank Redemption" then we'd have another classic on our hands.

Great Mix of Comedy, Action, and Intensity.......2007-03-31

James Woods, Lou Gossett, Jr., Oliver Platt and Bruce Dern shine in this tale of a town dominated by boxing. The right amount of humor and seriousness is incorporated to produce a very entertaining film. James Woods is perfect as the Con Man, and Bruce Dern, as always, is the perfect guy that we always love to hate. You will not be disappointed in this movie.

Husband LOVES this movie!.......2007-03-25

I ordered this movie for my hubby and he cosiders it a classic! Good movie for guys!

Average customer rating:

Combines two other sports movie giftsets plus 8 additional films

The Ultimate Sports Giftset

Manufacturer: MGM
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Sports | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000NSGUKS
Release Date: 2007-04-10

Customer Reviews:

Combines two other sports movie giftsets plus 8 additional films.......2007-03-17

This bundle combines two very good sports giftsets:
The Grand Slam Giftset -(Bull Durham/Pride of the Yankees/Eight Men Out/Jackie Robinson Story)
Sports Giftset - (Bull Durham / Hoosiers / Raging Bull / Rocky )
This total of seven movies are five star films, and if your interests are mainly baseball, or you prefer the finest films from several sports, you might be better off getting just one of these two giftsets. However, this Ultimate Sports Giftset also has several good films not included in these other two giftsets, such as the more watchable sequels in the Rocky series - Rocky II and Rocky III, along with That Championship Season, and Diggstown, which is an unusual vehicle for James Woods and Lou Gossett Jr. that did end up working well for both of them. Also included is a rarely seen documentary film from 1970 entitled "AKA Cassius Clay", which has Ali talking about his career with his usual verbal wit along with some great footage of Ali's early career fights.

Finally, there are three films in the turkey category that get slipped into the total package. "Monkey on My Back" is a 1957 film that was supposed to be about fighter Barney Ross. The movie is bad, but the accuracy must have been even worse, because Ross sued the producers of this film over the content and won. "Body and Soul" is not the classic version starring John Garfield. Instead this is the poor 1998 pseudo-remake. There's plenty of bad acting to go around in this movie, and even the good actors seem to think they're all performing in different films. Worst of the pack is the 2002 version of Rollerball. Like many of the 23-year-olds that make today's films, the producers of this remake of the 1975 classic just don't get that the original was great because of its portrayal of futuristic society, not because of violent action scenes. Weighing the good with the bad, this set is probably worth purchasing for the 12 good films in the bunch.

Average customer rating:

The ultimate con
Great Movie!
Like "The Sting" except more exciting
Great Mix of Comedy, Action, and Intensity
Husband LOVES this movie!

Diggstown [Region 2]
Starring: James Woods , Louis Gossett Jr. , Bruce Dern , Oliver Platt , and Heather Graham
Director: Michael Ritchie
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video