DIGGSTOWN
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: DIGGSTOWN is a fast, smart film about a con job worthy of the "Mission Impossible" team. Unfortunately, it leaves holes and unanswered questions and has an ending that is just not completely satisfying. It is, however, a good film to get the juices flowing. Rating: +1 (-4 to +4). (Following the review will be a spoiler section presenting script problems.)
Gabriel Caine (played by James Woods) is a con man about to be paroled and he is not waiting to be released to get into mischief. He has a scam in mind that could leave him owning a sizable piece of a redneck town. Diggstown is a town that lives and dies for boxing. It is named for a local boxing legend who once took on five men in one day. Now the town is covertly owned by John Gillon (played by Bruce Dern) who runs the town like a king. Caine, with a little help from some friends like card sharp and hustler Fitz (played by Oliver Platt) and a boxer, "Honey" Roy Palmer (played by Louis Gossett, Jr.) is going to put the squeeze on John Gillon in an absurd bet that Palmer can take on any ten locals. Once these two men set up an honorable bet, each is going to cheat in any way possible to win.
Steven McKay's screenplay based on Leonard Wise's novel THE DIGGSTOWN RANGERS races and forces the viewer to work hard to keep up with everything that is happening in DIGGSTOWN's 97 minutes. This dialogue is fast and funny, though the film's best line (starting "Just remember") is reportedly an ad lib by Woods clever enough that the trailer is built around it. DIGGSTOWN is directed by Michael Ritchie, who at some time decided to concentrate on sports films like SEMI-TOUGH, DOWNHILL RACER, THE BAD NEWS BEARS, and WILDCATS. That may be a pity, since his one really superb film, SMILE is about a beauty pageant rather than sports. Ritchie's DIGGSTOWN is not as good as SMILE, but it is diverting. I give it a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
(Spoilers)
There are problems with the screenplay. One is that Caine is entirely too brilliant at knowing what his opponent will do. He is prepared for eventualities that he would have no reason to suspect would happen. Also, for him to choose the right set of the ten boxers to involve in his plan requires knowledge that he is unlikely to have had. Finally, the punishment at the end seems surprisingly mild when one considers what has happened before.
Mark R. Leeper
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