Grumpy Old Men

Rating: 5/10 (23 August 2015)

I'm honestly being kind with a score of 5. It's not a movie I can ever see myself watching again, that's for sure. The premise, which no doubt resulted in much back-patting for someone, is that two older actors who starred in classic boxing movies play two old boxers with a score to settle. It's one of those movies where the last moment anybody cared about putting any creative effort into this was when they came up with the concept. After that it was just a matter of phoning it in and collecting a paycheck.
The chemistry between Robert DeNiro and Sylvester Stallone is decent and results in a few amusing lines back and forth before the novelty of that wears off. Their appeal is what carries the film. If you're not a fan of either actor, you may as well skip this. The romantic chemistry between Stallone and Kim Basinger is nonexistent. Kevin Hart is funny for a second or two until you realize he's only bringing that same old tired shtick of his to the table - every other sentence is 'white this' or 'black that.' Yawn. The little kid playing DeNiro's grandson is annoyingly precocious so prepare yourself for that. On the plus side, Alan Arkin easily steals every scene he's in and Jon Bernthal is ideal casting as DeNiro's son.
The movie meanders a great deal and is pretty predictable throughout. Some emotional scenes in this don't register well because you will find yourself disliking so many of the characters. There are also some glaring plot holes such as how Sly's character was medically cleared to fight when he's blind in one eye. The movie even jokes early on about the old guys passing medical exams, but when an actual medical issue figures into the plot nothing is ever said about how he ever passed the physical exam in the first place! Also, how terrible was the use of CGI in this? The early scenes showing footage of the two men fighting in their prime was so fake it was disturbing. Then, with the Dancing with the Stars joke at the end, DeNiro's face was clearly CGI'd onto someone else's body. Just creepy. Anyway, it's not a good movie but it is watchable if you are a fan of the stars. It's never as much fun as you hope it will be but it has moments here and there.