It's a long way down . . .

Rating: 7/10 (11 March 2017)

I guess "Raging Bull" qualifies as a boxing movie, but not like "Rocky". The sport is just a mechanism for Jake LaMotta's snarling and abusive life story; one that begins with talent in the ring and a pretty girl, and ends in ragged solitude. Throw in some brutal fight scenes and a melancholy score and you've got a dark portrait of one mean s.o.b.
Again, it's not really a boxing movie, and that's not a criticism. I think the best scenes happen outside of the ring, where Joe Pesci stands as De Niro's equal and the two really electrify the movie. And as wickedly as those title bouts are filmed, the most harrowing scene is just LaMotta in a jail cell. Scorsese just holds that shot interminably, never offering relief with a cut. I just think that's remarkable that, in a movie with so much blood and bone-hitting sound effects, such an unassuming scene packs the biggest punch.
7/10