Synopsis
Harry Agensky, a feisty former boxing champion living in Canada, persuades his estranged son and grandson to join him on a road trip to Reno, Nevada. Harry believes he is owed 13 diamonds promised decades earlier after he agreed to throw a fight. Their search becomes an unpredictable family adventure involving old grudges, romantic complications, and Harry's determination to prove he still has some fight left.
Factoids & Trivia
- The film uses footage from Kirk Douglas' 1949 boxing drama Champion to illustrate Harry's past in the ring. The connection gives the story a self-aware link to Douglas' own screen history.
- Harry's speech difficulties and physical limitations reflect Douglas' real-life recovery from a stroke. The performance was widely regarded as the film's strongest element.
- Lauren Bacall and Douglas had previously appeared together in Young Man with a Horn (1950), making Diamonds a reunion nearly half a century later.
- Diamonds was produced by Total Film Group and Cinerenta and distributed by Miramax. It received a limited U.S. theatrical release beginning December 10, 1999, opening in only two theaters.
- Despite a reported production budget of about $11.9 million, the film earned less than $82,000 in domestic theatrical box office, contributing to its low-profile reputation.