Don't hold any grudges. Rumble with the ageing legends and enjoy

Rating: 7/10 (28 January 2014)

I'm never bothered about people saying, "Sly and DeNiro gotta eat" or "why the hell is DeNiro making this type of movie" or "Its sad to see these hero's sink so low". I ignore that sort of talk. Sly and DeNiro have made iconic movies by great directors. They also make fun movies and a lot of them are great fun, both can do comedy well in their own way even if sometimes they send themselves up, they have the charm and charisma to do so. So no matter if a film is good, bad or ugly, most of the time they got the charisma to pull the movie through. And in case you didn't know, they have been making light-hearted films from day one.
And once again their charisma shines through in this film. This is an easy going feel good movie with plenty of laughs and an entertaining build up to the climatic showdown but what really works here is the chemistry between Deniro and Sly and so by the time it gets to the ring, you really care about both of them.
The last time I saw a film with Sly and DeNiro together was in Copland and while they didn't share a helluva a lot of screen time together in that movie, when they did they sparked. And they spark here too.
The film storyline is no great shakes and at times it does pull the obvious "too old for this" joke a few too many times but still, there is a fun sincerity to it and Alan Arkin also adds a few chuckles as "damn is he still alive?" trainer.
Kim Basinger plays the grandmother love interest...and she looks lovely at 61, in fact more than lovely! Nice to see her looking "naturally" good on screen. Go granny! Of course there isn't much for her to do...this is the Sly and DeNiro show.
DeNiro is awesome, he's somewhat of a scoundrel, he's likable and funny but you also know he needs a big punch in the face (tiny echoes of Raging bull...very tiny OK, this ain't that sort of film). As for Sly, he's the same old Rocky Balboa personality. A simple man, with no great ambition, just rolls through life as a construction worker and murmur his way in the way that only slurry Sly can do. Its a perfect clash of personalities and that's where all the fun is in this movie.
There are little side plots to pad out the drama which gives the two ageing boxers more incentive to kill each other. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of flat jokes. No escaping that. I don't know who the actor playing the promoter is but he strikes me as someone trying to bring back Chris Tucker style of comedy to the screen...not a good idea. Chris Tucker came and gone for a good reason. Making fun of being black and short is also a little risqué in this day and age but it seems to have brought a chuckle from the audience in my screening (all 6 of them).
As for the training and boxing match itself...for me, it was actually worth the wait. Of course don't expect great things from these pensioners and sure, the film editing cheats more than Lance Armstrong to make them look fast. It is obvious how slow Sly punches are but I tell you, they both looked great fighting each other. Raging Bull and Rocky, old but in decent enough shape to make the fight convincing and painful! DeNiro was fighting in the same style as he did in Raging Bull, that cowering bore into the opponent style...there is a geeky delight to be had in that. As for Sly, well I actually like his body shape more here than in the Expendable movies. He looks more "natural". In the Expendables, he looks like he was pumping some of that Bane juice into his veins. Here he looks natural, you don't see those veins pumping out too much and I like that.
If you are a hardcore Sly or DeNiro fan and hate to see these guys doing light comedy and getting old then stay away and watch your steel book remastered blurays of their classics.
But if you love these guys to enjoy every little ounce of what's left in them to deliver...and they do give it all they got in personality and physicality, then honour their ageing efforts and have a lightweight rumble with them.
7/10
Oh and stay for the early part of the credits, there is a hilarious sketch...in fact the funniest bit in the whole film. Totally surprising and well executed.