Abravise Characters But It Draws Me Back

Rating: 7/10 (2 December 2005)

Here's a gritty, film noir-type story of real-life former boxing champion Jake LaMotta, a film that has features some memorable aspects to it.
Perhaps most memorable is the physical transformation of lead actor Robert De Niro, who gained somewhere around 50 pounds to play LaMotta at the end of this film. I hope he enjoyed all the food and drink it must have taken to put on that weight!
The story moves well with few, if any, lulls and each fight scene is fairly credible although a little too brief. I'd like to have seen more boxing but it's better than having to sit through the overdone action as we saw in the "Rocky" pictures. The black-and-white photography is excellent in here. I wish more modern-day films were done in black-and-white.
Usually the Hollywood actresses are a lot better looking than the real-life people they portray but that's not the case here with LaMotta's wife, Vicki. Cathy Moriarity doesn't hold a candle to the real "Vicki," who was a knockout, a voluptuous woman feature several times in Playboy magazine. Also, early on in the film Moriarity is supposed to be 15 years old but she looks closer to 35!
Typical of a Martin Scorcese film, too, is the excessive profanity, which certainly dominates this film. Perhaps LaMotta was this crude in real life but between De Niro and his brother, played by Joe Pesci, it's a very foul-mouthed, loud and abrasive family. If you can stand that constant profane assault on your ears, it's still a very watchable movie until the last 20 minutes where LaMotta is pictured as a pathetic clown, getting tossed in jail, resorting to stupid jokes and just uncomfortably sloppy behavior that is not fun to watch.
Despite all the unpleasant parts of this story, I found this to be one of those films that kept getting better with multiple viewings. Hard to figure, but, Scorcese must have done a few things very well for me to keep coming back. The photography alone, is one thing that keeps drawing me back.