Antonio Banderas' last movie, The 13th Warrior, was nothing to scream about, and neither is Play it to the Bone, a movie that tries to be funny but really isn't, and might be a little too mature for its own good.

Woody Harrelson also stars as Banderas' boxing buddy, and both of them are heading to Vegas to fight each other after the planned fighters both had accidents. Harrelson plays a Jesus-seeing religious man who doesn't find having sex with girls, and he's also a pretty good boxer.

Both actors do a pretty good job and there seems to be decent chemistry between the two, but the problem is that the things they say are trying to be funny but just aren't. It's not that Play it to the Bone is really intended to be a comedy, either, but through most of the movie while they are driving to Vegas, they are bickering and fighting like a young version of Grumpy Old Men. This bickering and fighting can and should be funny, but it isn't.

At one point, Banderas tells them that for a short time he experimented with men, and they go on a long spree of talking about "fags." As Harrelson continued to point out to Banderas what various kinds of "fags" he was, I'm sitting there wondering why this back story was even brought into it. What point does it have? It's not really funny and it's just going to offend a portion of the already small audience watching this movie.

The last half hour or so is designated for the boxing match between the two main characters, and it is pretty intense at times. The movie basically takes us step by step through the rounds, showing tons of punches, blocks, hooks, and elbows. By the end, Harrelson has bloody pouring down his body. At the same time, for some reason, the guys are having hallucinations. Harrelson keeps on seeing the girls that hold up the round numbers naked, and he even sees Jesus a few times. Banderas sees Lolita Davidovich (the third main character) having sex with Harrelson, and also sees the referee naked. Is any of this really necessary?

I think Play it to the Bone shouldn't have done without the sex, nudity, and swearing. Cutting it by twenty minutes would have also helped. The script isn't that funny and I became squeamish at times, but this movie was a lot better than expected (I had very low expectations). Still, a PG-13 rating would have helped this movie out and probably made things go smoother. Play it to the Bone is by no means the worst movie I've seen in a while, but I'm not going to see it again. That's for sure.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.