''Diggstown'' (known as ''Midnight Sting'' in the UK), is a 1992 American

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

comedy-drama film directed by Michael Ritchie and written by Steven McKay, based on the 1978 novel ''The Diggstown Ringers'' by Leonard Wise. It stars

James Woods James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off- Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in ''The Trial of the ...

Louis Gossett Jr. Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. (born May 27, 1936) is an American actor. Born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, He had his stage debut at the age of 17, in a school production of '' You Can't Take It with You.'' Shortly after he successfully ...

, Bruce Dern,

Heather Graham Heather Joan Graham (born January 29, 1970) is an American actress. After appearing in television commercials, her first starring role in a feature film came with the teen comedy '' License to Drive'' (1988), followed by the critically acclaime ...

Oliver Platt Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is known for his starring roles in many films such as ''Flatliners'' (1990), ''Beethoven'' (1992), '' Indecent Proposal'', ''The Three Musketeers'' (both 1993), '' Execut ...

and

Randall "Tex" Cobb Randall Craig "Tex" Cobb (born May 7, 1950) is an American actor, martial artist, and former professional boxer who competed in the heavyweight division. Widely considered to possess one of the greatest chins of all time, Cobb was a brawler who ...

Plot

Gabriel Caine (

), a

con man A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

, is released from prison in Winfield, Georgia and immediately gets to work on his next scam. Caine and his partner, Daniel Patrick O'Shannon "Fitz" Fitzpatrick (

), travel to a small town not far from the prison: Diggstown, a city obsessed with boxing. A mean-spirited man named John Gillon ( Bruce Dern) owns almost all of Diggstown. He is feared by many but also respected because he is the former manager of Diggstown's pride and joy, the once-famous boxer Charles Macom Diggs, the man for whom the town is named. Upon hearing a remark that Diggs once knocked out five fighters in one day, Fitz “drunkenly” says he knows of a fighter who could knock out any 10 in one day: Honey Roy Palmer. Gillon tries to take advantage of the situation and bets Fitz $100,000 that no one man can best ten Diggstown boxers in one day. Caine quickly volunteers to finance Fitz's bet and the con is on. Caine seeks out an old buddy, Palmer (

), who is now a 48-year-old

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

supervisor. After some initial reluctance, Palmer agrees to participate and starts to train for the fight. Caine and Gillon agree to various conditions of the bet, with “one day” being 24 full hours and “Diggstown fighters” being able to come from any surrounding area of Olivair County. A loan shark backs Caine's bet, with the understanding that his health and welfare will be riding on the outcome. Caine discovers that Gillon's treachery (and his bank account) goes deeper than Diggstown people know. As his manager, Gillon drugged Diggs during a fight so that Gillon could collect on the opponent's long odds. Diggs suffered irreversible brain damage as a result. With help from Emily Forrester, his prison buddy Edward "Wolf" Forrester's sister (

), it is learned that Gillon has more than $1.5 million in assets. Caine tricks him into risking all of it. Now it is up to Honey Roy Palmer to defeat all 10 of Diggstown's men. They begin with: * Buck Holland (played by former heavyweight boxing contender Rocky Pepeli), who puts up a good fight. Palmer barely beats him. * Slim Busby, who like his brother, Hambone, has been bribed by Caine to take a dive. * Billy Hargrove (played by

James Caviezel James Patrick Caviezel Jr. (; born September 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor who played Jesus Christ in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004) and starred as John Reese on the CBS series ''Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). He ...

), who is easily beat. * Sam Lester (played by

Roger Hewlett Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...

), who is secretly given a

laxative Laxatives, purgatives, or aperients are substances that loosen stools and increase bowel movements. They are used to treat and prevent constipation. Laxatives vary as to how they work and the side effects they may have. Certain stimulant, lubri ...

before the fight and eventually runs from the ring. * Hambone Busby, who, like his brother, has been bribed to take a dive. Gillon, however, threatens to kill Hambone's brother, Slim, unless he is victorious in the ring. Hambone fights a vicious fight, but is ultimately defeated. Slim is indeed found murdered. Palmer is enraged. His next fight is with Sonny Hawkins, who is easily dispatched. Robby Gillon, the son of John Gillon, approaches the ring next, but then backs out under instructions from his father. His cowardice is regarded as a forfeit. Frank Mangrum officially loses to disqualification after kicking Palmer in the groin, then hitting the referee then gets knocked out by Palmer. Tank Miller, a gargantuan fighter, is next. He puts up a good fight, but a tiring Palmer eventually beats him. That brings up Diggstown's best man, Hammerhead Hagan, the only fighter ever to actually beat Palmer during their professional careers. He is brought in as a surprise ringer. Gillon moved him in as a county resident just before the bet rules were established, meaning that Hagan can legally fight. The bout is one-sided. Palmer looks done for, but he gets new motivation after seeing Diggs, who is sitting courtside, move his hand slightly (which he interprets as a show of support). Caine, not wanting to see his friend die, attempts to throw in the towel, but Palmer catches it and throws it back. Palmer rallies to knock out his opponent. Palmer, Caine and Fitz begin their celebration of this miraculous feat. They are cut short by Gillon, who notes that his son never entered the ring -– therefore, only nine fights have transpired. The true tenth fighter is then introduced: Minoso Torres, a tough-as-nails boxer who ruled the boxing underground in the prison from which Caine was recently released. No one has ever defeated him. Gillon admonishes Caine with: "Never try to hustle a hustler." An exhausted Palmer is no match for Torres. But just when all looks lost, Caine whistles at Torres, gets his attention, straightens his tie and does a thumbs-down gesture (copying a move Gillon did earlier). Torres drops his gloves and invites Palmer to hit him, hitting the canvas, knocked out. Caine was expecting such a trick from Gillon and bribed Torres long ago for a moment like this. Gillon has lost everything, leading Caine to correct him with an admonishment: "Actually, I believe it goes: Never con a con-man, especially one who's better than you are." Calm at first, he snaps and pulls a gun. His son, Robby, tries to intervene and Gillon smacks him. Palmer then grabs Gillon and prepares to deck him. Instead, he turns to Hambone, claiming, "My hands hurt. You want to do this?" Hambone gladly obliges and delivers Gillon a powerful knockout blow. Caine congratulates Palmer: "What you did," he says, "couldn't be done." To which Palmer replies, "Now, you motivate me".

Cast

as Gabriel Caine *

as "Honey" Roy Palmer * Bruce Dern as John Gillon *

as Daniel Patrick O'Shannon "Fitz" Fitzpatrick *

as Emily Forrester *

as Edward "Wolf" Forrester * Thomas Wilson Brown as Robby Gillon *

Jim Caviezel James Patrick Caviezel Jr. (; born September 26, 1968) is an American film and television actor who played Jesus Christ in ''The Passion of the Christ'' (2004) and starred as John Reese on the CBS series '' Person of Interest'' (2011–2016). He ...

as Billy Hargrove

Production

Filming for ''Diggstown'' took place in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, as well as in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it has a approval rating based on reviews, with an average score of .

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fi ...

gave the film two and a half stars, calling it "amiable," but complains "the script is contrived". Vincent Canby of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it Ritchie's most entertaining film since the mid-1970's, and praising the cast. ''

The Los Angeles Times ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' said the cast livened up "what could have been an overly cute entertainment".

Box office

The film flopped at the box office, making $4.8 million in its theatrical run, well below its $17 million budget.

References

External links

* * * {{Michael Ritchie 1992 films 1992 comedy-drama films 1990s sports comedy-drama films American boxing films American sports comedy-drama films Films about con artists Films based on American novels Films directed by Michael Ritchie Films scored by James Newton Howard Films set in Georgia (U.S. state) Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in Montana Films shot in Sacramento, California Gambling films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films