''Split Decisions'' is a 1988 American

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

sports film A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport or a sports-related topic is prominently featured or is a focus of the plot. D ...

directed by David Drury and starring

Craig Sheffer Craig Eric Sheffer (born April 23, 1960) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his starring roles as Hardy Jenns in '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), Aaron "Cabal" Boone in '' Nightbreed'' (1990), Norman Maclean in '' A Ri ...

Jeff Fahey Jeffrey David Fahey (, born November 29, 1952) is an American actor. His notable roles include Duane Duke in ''Psycho III'' (1986), Pete Verill in Clint Eastwood's ''White Hunter Black Heart'' (1990), Jobe Smith in ''The Lawnmower Man'' (1992), ...

and

Gene Hackman Eugene Allen Hackman (January 30, 1930 – ) was an American actor. Hackman made his credited film debut in the drama ''Lilith (film), Lilith'' (1964). He later won two Academy Awards, his first for Academy Award for Best Actor, Best Actor for ...

Plot

On the east side of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, boxing trainer Danny McGuinn is trying to prepare one of his sons, Eddie, to earn a chance to fight in the Olympic Games, while his other son, Ray, has fallen in with shady men from organized crime. After Ray is killed, Eddie discovers that an opposing boxer, Pedroza, was involved in his brother’s death and challenges him to a bout in the hopes of securing revenge. Eddie defeats Pedroza after a hard-fought match, and the film ends with the remaining McGuinns celebrating victoriously.

Cast

as Eddie McGuinn *

as Ray McGuinn *

as Danny McGuinn *

John McLiam John McLiam (born John Williams; January 24, 1918 – April 16, 1994) was a Canadian actor noted for his skill at different accents. His film appearances include ''My Fair Lady'' (1964), ''In Cold Blood'' (1967), John Frankenheimer's movie of ' ...

as Pop McGuinn *

Jennifer Beals Jennifer Beals (born December 19, 1963) is an American actress. She made her film debut in ''My Bodyguard'' (1980), before receiving critical acclaim for her performance as Alexandra Owens in ''Flashdance'' (1983), for which she won NAACP Image ...

as Barbara Uribe *

Eddie Velez Edwin Velez (born June 4, 1958) is an American film, stage and television actor. He is best known for playing Frankie Santana in the final season of the American action and adventure television series ''The A-Team''. Early life and education ...

as Julian 'The Snake' Pedroza *

Carmine Caridi Carmine Caridi (January 23, 1934 – May 28, 2019) was an American film, television and stage actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974) and ''The Godfather Part III'' (1990). In 2004, Caridi became the ...

as Lou Rubia *

James Tolkan James Stewart Tolkan (born June 20, 1931) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as high school vice-principal in charge of discipline Mr. Strickland in ''Back to the Future'' (1985) and ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), and as ...

as Benny Pistone *

David Labiosa David Labiosa (born October 4, 1961) is an American actor in film and on television. Career In film, Labiosa starred in the 1981 horror film ''The Entity'' as Billy, the son of Carla Moran. Labiosa has appeared on television in series such as ...

as Rudy *

Harry Van Dyke Harry Van Dyke, also known as Harry'O The Vandizzle (born September 29, 1972) is an American actor and record producer, most known for his role as Douby in the movie ''Split Decisions ''Split Decisions'' is a 1988 American crime drama sports ...

as Douby * Anthony Trujillo as Angel * Victor Campos as Santiago *

Tom Bower Thomas Michael Bower (born 28 September 1946) is a British writer and former BBC journalist and television producer. He is known for his investigative journalism and for his unauthorised biographies, often of business tycoons and newspaper pr ...

as Detective Walsh *

Julius Harris Julius W. Harris (August 17, 1923 – October 17, 2004) was an American actor who appeared in more than 70 movies and numerous television series in a career that spanned four decades. Harris is best known for his roles in 1970s films such as ''Li ...

as Tony Leone *

De'voreaux White De'voreaux White (born Devorea W. Sefas; August 6, 1965)White in is an American actor. He started his career as a child actor in the late 1970s, and may be best known for his role in ''Die Hard'' (1988) as the young limousine driver, Argyle. Car ...

as Coop * Herb Muller as Mr. D. * Cathleen A. Master as Pedroza's Girlfriend * Rachel Renick as Red-Haired Woman * Mark Dirkse as Thug #1 *

George Robotham George Robotham (January 10, 1921 – February 1, 2007) was an American stuntman and actor. Robotham was born in 1921 and played American football at UCLA, where he was awarded a degree in business administration. He started his acting career ...

as Thug #2 * Pete Antico as Sparring Partner #1 * Mark Hicks as Sparring Partner #2 * Michael Adams as Sparring Partner #3 * Joe Godsen as Sparring Partner #4 * George P. Wilbur as Referee At Patty Flood

Reception

In a review, ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

'' described ''Split Decisions'' as a "tedious low-budget boxing film". While praising Hackman's performance, the review pans the movie's "predictable script and phony, ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American independent film, independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky (film series), ''Rocky'' franchise and also star ...

''-style ending". Writing for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', Michael Wilmington spoke more positively about the movie, declaring it a "rousing boxing melodrama that pretty much earns a split decision itself".

References

External links

* * * 1988 films 1988 crime drama films 1980s sports drama films American boxing films Films set in New York City Films scored by Basil Poledouris Films directed by David Drury 1980s English-language films 1980s American films English-language crime drama films English-language sports drama films {{sport-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links