Tim Conway and Don Knotts once again make a comfortable comedy team, playing a dumb boxer and his goofy manager in a tale set in the 1930s. The two of them are struggling and starving, but catch the attention of young mobster Mike (Robin Clarke, "The Formula"), who uses them as pawns in his scheme to acquire the gym of crusty old trainer Pop Morgan (David Wayne, "Adam's Rib"). Bags (the boxer) participates in a series of fights which he doesn't know are fixed, all on the way to confronting the reigning champion, "The Butcher" (Michael LaGuardia, "Total Recall").
Filmed on location in Atlanta, this film benefits from the local atmosphere. As far as the comedy content goes, this may not be a prime Conway & Knotts vehicle, but one can certainly do worse. There are enough laughs and good moments to qualify this as pleasant, if not uproarious, fare. There is some hilarity involving Mikes' dotty, senile mother (Mary Ellen O'Neill, "Galaxy of Terror"), but this material seems to exist in a different movie altogether. Conway also concocted the story and wrote the screenplay, with co-star John Myhers ("Willard"), and he and Knotts are in typically fine form. Wayne stands out among the supporting cast, which also consists of Cisse Cameron ("Space Mutiny") as Mikes' mistreated moll, child actor George Nutting (in one of only two movie roles for him) as orphaned kid Timmy, and Irwin Keyes ("House of 1000 Corpses") as Mikes' henchman.
The Bags method of fighting is certainly good for some laughs. He mostly just runs around trying to avoid the fists of his opponent, until connecting with a supposedly superior right hook which he doesn't know is NOT that effective.
All in all, a decent comedy, geared towards a family audience and mostly avoiding too much unpleasantness.
Seven out of 10.
Filmed on location in Atlanta, this film benefits from the local atmosphere. As far as the comedy content goes, this may not be a prime Conway & Knotts vehicle, but one can certainly do worse. There are enough laughs and good moments to qualify this as pleasant, if not uproarious, fare. There is some hilarity involving Mikes' dotty, senile mother (Mary Ellen O'Neill, "Galaxy of Terror"), but this material seems to exist in a different movie altogether. Conway also concocted the story and wrote the screenplay, with co-star John Myhers ("Willard"), and he and Knotts are in typically fine form. Wayne stands out among the supporting cast, which also consists of Cisse Cameron ("Space Mutiny") as Mikes' mistreated moll, child actor George Nutting (in one of only two movie roles for him) as orphaned kid Timmy, and Irwin Keyes ("House of 1000 Corpses") as Mikes' henchman.
The Bags method of fighting is certainly good for some laughs. He mostly just runs around trying to avoid the fists of his opponent, until connecting with a supposedly superior right hook which he doesn't know is NOT that effective.
All in all, a decent comedy, geared towards a family audience and mostly avoiding too much unpleasantness.
Seven out of 10.