Sometimes it's so unfunny that it is sad

Rating: 3/10 (23 January 2015)

Grudge Match 2.5/10- I came into this movie with much higher expectations than Sylvester Stallone's other recent movies. I thought it could be good simply because I think that Stallone can only act well when he is boxing and he has in my opinion one of the best and most versatile actors ever-Robert De Niro. I believed that with the two together, the movie would be at least passable, and that is what it is, passable.
The first half of the movie was awful. They did not really mention boxing that much other than the fight between Henry "Razor" Sharp, who is played by Stallone, and Billy "The Kid" Mcdonnen, played by De Niro, that took place thirty years earlier in the first half. The jokes were off the mark and surprisingly Kevin Hart was not that funny. I was just really hoping that the second half would be better. Thankfully it was slightly better. The boxing scenes and training were at least entertaining enough to enjoy. Basically the second half of Grudge Match gets the audience to remember how great Rocky and Raging Bull. The thing that irritated me throughout the film was it seemed like the movie relied on the two actors previous roles in Rocky and Raging Bull to sell tickets. Someone should have told the director that it is nearly 35 years later since Stallone and De Niro's boxing movies and therefore they cannot be the same characters with just different names. The acting was not good to say the least. I think everyone could tell De Niro was not very interested in this movie because it was evident that he did not give his best effort. Sylvester Stallone is really just not that good of an actor and the studio knew that so they kept making references and quotes from Rocky to make him at least decent in his role. Too bad in did not work because I really enjoyed the most recent Rocky Rocky Balboa in which Stallone gave a great performance. Really the best part in this movie was Alan Arkin. But saying Alan Arkin gave the best performance in this movie is like saying he was the best looking person at an ugly convention, its just not saying much. Still, he was without a doubt the funniest person.
The thing that was probably the worst about this movie was the plot. There are things that do not fit in the plot. I do not want to ruin the movie for you if for some reason you decide to see this but there are certain common points that sports movies tend to follow and Grudge Match is no exception, but there is no build up to these almost essential plot points. The movie is cliché to say the least, and I have no problem with that, but if they decide to make the movie with Robert De Niro beginning to change so he can have a better relationship with his son, he will not just out of the blue decide to ruin that. This is just an example, there are plenty more.
This movie is terrible at the beginning but it does start to find itself toward the end, but unfortunately there is just too much bad directing, screen writing, and poor acting to really make this movie worthwhile. I do not recommend you wait till this movie comes out on DVD.
For more of my reviews, go to my website at reviewsbywest.com