Rocky vs. Raging Bull: thirty some years later!

Rating: 7/10 (27 December 2013)

'GRUDGE MATCH': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
Film icons Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro (who last appeared on screen together in 1997's 'COP LAND') star in this boxing movie about former boxing champions who decide to have one last bout together, 30 years after a tiebreaking title match was supposed to take place. The movie obviously could have been titled 'ROCKY VS. RAGING BULL: THIRTY SOME YEARS LATER', which probably would have sold more tickets. As it is it's a decent boxing comedy drama film and is about what anyone should expect going into it (No more, no less).
Stallone plays Henry "Razor" Sharp and De Niro plays Billy "The Kid" McDonnen. They're both retired Pittsburgh boxers who each held the title and won one fight against the other. They were supposed to have a tiebreaking match thirty years earlier but Razor retired the night before the big fight. Kid has been wanting to fight Razor again ever since and when a boxing promoter named Dante Slate, Jr. (Kevin Hart), the son of the promoter who arranged Razor and Kid's earlier fights, proposes a new match between the two Kid of course jumps at the opportunity. Razor is (of course) not into the idea at all at first, largely due to the fact that Kid slept with his ex-girlfriend, Sally Rose (Kim Basinger), thirty years earlier before the cancelled bout. Due to financial difficulties Razor agrees to do the fight. Alan Arkin also co-stars in the movie as Razor's old trainer and Jon Bernthal (of 'THE WALKING DEAD' fame) plays Kid's son (and Sally's) who he never knew.
The movie is full of all your usual clichés and cheesy drama but it is funny and a lot of fun. If you're not interested in seeing a boxing match between Rocky and the Raging Bull, thirty some years later, than this isn't the movie for you but I love the idea of it and got what I paid for. Stallone and De Niro are both great in the film (and looked like they had a lot of fun doing it) and the supporting cast is all decent as well. Peter Segal (who also directed films like 'TOMMY BOY', 'ANGER MANAGEMENT', '50 FIRST DATES' and 'GET SMART') does a decent job directing and the script (by Doug Ellin, Tim Kelleher and Rodney Rothman is adequate). Of course it's not a great film but it's not a bad one either and it's definitely a lot of fun.
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