Perhaps the Only One in the U.S. to put down this film

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2005)

I may be alone on this but Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull does not deserve the praise it has garnered recently, best illustrated by its lauded praise for the recently released commemorative double DVD box set.
I hate to be the one to attack Scorsese who just directed the best film in a long, long time, in The Aviator and it pains me to write this scathing review. It is only I have not seen any critic criticize the film's plot holes, jarring dialogue or disparate scenes that do not gel into a coherent portrait.
The film is too redundant, and at times silly, as we watch De Niro's LaMotta transform into a heavy-set monster. It is mainly silly in LaMotta's cell late in the film, in which DeNiro (clearly given the green light by Scorsese to improvise) basically talks in gibberish as a way to pity LaMotta.
Take also for instance the strange editing from DeNiro in the ring against Sugar Ray Robinson, which is juxtaposed by making love to Cathy Moriarity's Vikki. I do not get the montage when DeNiro pours ice water on his genitals with shots in the ring. It is very confusing and also, unintentionally funny.
It is an authentic film for sure, taking much from 1950s boxing films, most notably Bogart's last film, The Harder They Fall.
I have not come across one critic who has put down this film, often cited as the "best film of the decade," and a "masterpiece." Scorsese has directed a lot of films befit for those descriptions, Casino and The Aviator stand out for me.
Yet, Raging Bull hardly is a masterpiece, and yet hardly anyone agrees with me. Maybe someone will maybe in another twenty five years.