neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Undisputed
	Walter Hill Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, Peter Falk, Michael Rooker, Jon Seda, Wes Studi, Fisher Stevens 2002		Director Walter Hill, famed for crackling, violent B-movies such as "Streets of Fire," comes across with his latest burst of testosterone. It's almost a sure-fire proposition, since its central conflict involves charismatic actors Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames pounding the stuffing out of each other. And they hit the mark. Taking a cue from the real-life travails of boxer Mike Tyson, "Undisputed" gets going when an undefeated heavyweight champion (Rhames) is convicted of rape and sentenced to a stint in a maximum-security prison that just happens to have an intramural boxing program — complete with a caged ring adorned by barbed wire. The prison's own undefeated champ (Snipes) has something to prove, so it's inevitable that the scrappy amateur will meet the thuggish pro in a vicious display of pugilism. An imprisoned, geriatric mob boss (ornery Peter Falk) arranges the unsanctioned bout; the oddsmakers go wild; and the climactic brawl doesn't disappoint. The "B" in this B-movie stands for ballsy.