Well made, hard to watch

Rating: 6/10 (13 February 2007)

Though certainly not for everyone, in part including myself, Raging Bull is a well crafted, well acted film about the most annoying, obnoxious, abusive and arrogant man ever to have roamed this Earth.
The basic problem with this movie is certainly not the way it is was made but the aspect of entertainment. This due to the rather flat and repetitive storyline. It is anything but a feel-good movie and you will find that the greater part of the negative reviews this movie has gotten, revolve around this issue.
It is true; LaMotta is unbearable to watch, his actions: despicable. Yet the fact that it is so perfectly shot and acted out makes that the point of this movie comes greatly across. It is of course a side of men, we rather not see and I found myself frequently trying to strangle LaMotta in my mind.
On a more negative side, I found the movie to be plodding at times and since the drama around LaMotta was quite one-dimensional, I would have rather seen this movie go more into the boxing and the training aspect (like Rocky did). The way it emphasized on the drama, made the boxing secondary and made it add little to the story.
Incredibly well made but painful to watch.
6/10