Thomas Wilson Brown | Through the Shattered Lens

Gabriel Caine (James Woods) is a fast-talking con man fresh out of prison who’s already set up his next big scam. Along with his partner Fitz (Oliver Platt), Caine is targeting Diggstown, a small, boxing-obsessed community ruled over by the corrupt John Gillon (Bruce Dern). Gillon controls the town because he rigged a fight that left local boxing legend Charles Macum Diggs (Wilhelm von Homburg) completely brain-damaged. The scam involves getting Gillon to take a $100,000 bet that 48 year old “Honey” Roy Palmer (Louis Gossett Jr.) can defeat any ten Diggstown fighters in one 24-hour period. Once the fights start, you can bet that both sides will have lots of surprises up their sleeves, but the question is who will be standing when the final bell rings?!!

Since today is Bruce Dern’s 89th birthday, I decided to watch DIGGSTOWN, one of my favorite movies featuring the birthday boy. A box office flop when it was released in 1992, making less than $5 million at the box office, the reputation for the film seems to have gotten stronger over the years. The film has an excellent cast! James Woods exudes cockiness and intelligence as conman, Gabriel Caine. He somehow pulls off the feat of being both sleazy and very likable, which is a testament to Woods’ skills as an actor. Louis Gossett Jr. is great as “Honey” Roy Palmer. I remember when I first saw the trailer for DIGGSTOWN, I thought he was too old for the role. After watching it though, he’s able to make the boxing scenes work, especially when you consider some of the help he’s given as part of the con. With the huge personalities of Woods and Bruce Dern surrounding him, Gossett’s more grounded performance anchors the film. Bruce Dern is perfectly cast as the villainous scuzzbucket, Gillon. He’s the type of guy you really want to see get his comeuppance at the end. Now that I think about it, Gillon is such an A-hole, Caine can’t help but seem likable in comparison! Finally, I did want to give a shout out to Oliver Platt, who’s extremely funny in his role as Caine’s partner in con. It’s one of the first movies I remember seeing Platt in, and he’s great!

For DIGGSTOWN to really work though, the boxing scenes need to work and the con needs to be smart. Director Michael Ritchie (THE BAD NEWS BEARS) does a good job setting up both. The boxing sequences are well choreographed by Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, and you can’t help but root for the old guy as his opponents keep on coming. Of the 10 fights, some are funny, some are quick, and some are very intense depending on the situation. Ritchie is able to keep the stakes high enough during the boxing scenes to make sure we remain invested in the story. It’s a nice balancing act as the con plays out in the background of each fight. And what a con it is! I won’t spoil it for you, but it’s a stroke of genius that resulted in a massive amount of satisfaction for this audience member!

Overall, DIGGSTOWN is one of those movies I’m sure to watch every few years. With its great cast, punchy sense of humor, and genius triple-twist of an ending, I can’t imagine anyone leaving disappointed. I highly recommend it!

The trailer is included below:

In the old west, a cowboy named Emmet (Scott Glenn) teams up with a reformed outlaw named Paden (Kevin Kline) and they bust Emmet’s wild younger brother, Jake (Kevin Costner), out of jail. After Mal (Danny Glover) helps the three of them escape from a posse, they all end up going to the town of Silverado, where all four of them have business. Emmett and Jake want to protect their sister from the corrupt son (Ray Baker) of a cattle baron who was previously killed by Emmett. Mal wants to save his sister Rae (Lynn Whitfield) from an evil gambler (Jeff Goldblum). Paden discovers that Cobb (Brian Dennehy), his former partner-in-crime, is now the sheriff of Silverado and working for the cattle barons. When Paden tries to protect the new settlers (including Rosanne Arquette), it leads to a confrontation with his former partner.

In the 80s, when he wasn’t directing films like The Big Chill and The Accidental Tourist, Lawrence Kasdan specialized in paying homage to the films of Hollywood’s golden age. He started his directorial career with Body Heat, a modern film noir. He worked on the screenplays of both Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark. With Silverado, Kasdan tried to resurrect the western.

Silverado is a traditional western with a few modern touches, like casting Jeff Goldblum as a gambler and John Cleese as the sheriff who wants to execute Kevin Costner. Silverado also has more humor than a typical western, largely thanks to Kevin Kline. Silverado starts out as a comedy before turning serious and grim once the four heroes finally reach Silverado.

Kasdan’s love of the genre is obvious in every frame of Silverado but, in trying to tell multiple stories at once, the movie spreads itself too thin. I like that Kasdan tried to shake things up by casting actors who most people wouldn’t expect to see in a western but both Kevin Kline and Brian Dennehy seem miscast in their roles and their final confrontation never becomes the epic moment that it needs to be. Scott Glenn and Kevin Costner are far more believable in their roles. Danny Glover is also believable but his character is underused.

Silverado was obviously a labor of love for Kasdan and it shows that, if nothing else, Kasdan understood the appeal of the genre and the beauty of the wide open frontier. The movie has its flaws but fans of westerns will appreciate his effort.