Lots of style, but little substance

Rating: 7/10 (16 January 2003)

Scorsese is at his best when he's not taking himself too seriously. King of Comedy and Goodfellas are fantastic films because there's an upbeat element of humour in them. But Raging Bull (like Taxi Driver) is the story of a destructive nobody. True, De Niro and Pesci give fantastic performances. But I think the film's reputation has been falsely enhanced by the legend surrounding De Niro's performance. At the end of the film I was left wondering what had persuaded Scorsese to make a movie about LaMotta in the first place. 7/10.