De Niro at his worst and also best.

Rating: 9/10 (25 March 2005)

Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese together can only be described as the definitive symbol of cinematic excellence. They have a profound understanding of each other that everybody should aspire to, whether they're in show business or not.
Raging Bull is the ultimate Scorsese/De Niro collaboration and the snub it got from the Academy was a grim reminder where movies in the 80's where headed. Instead of making more of these quality films together, Scorsese and De Niro were virtually absent in the 80's. It wasn't until '88 that De Niro made sort of a comeback with Midnight Run. Scorsese was producing a few films but he wasn't the major influence he had been in the 70's.
The film Raging Bull also introduced Joe Pesci to a worldwide audience. He had only made an obscure film in the mid-70's which was virtually unseen except De Niro who recommended him to play Jake LaMotta's brother, Joey. Another newcomer was the actress playing Jake's wife, Vicki. She was barely out of high school when she was hired. This is by far, De Niro's absolute best performance and of course he also won the Oscar, but it is also the performance that is the hardest to watch. Every single moment he's on screen is like spending time with your worst enemy. He is such an ugly person that you can't sympathize with him at all. The thing that makes him somewhat redeemable is that he never thinks of himself as a good person. He knows, he is trash but the power to change is not in him. At the end, where he tries to make up with his brother is the most painful moment ever filmed and there doesn't seem to be any change in his character. Apparently, the real LaMotta saw the whole film and was himself disgusted of the way he was portrayed but only at himself.
De Niro has had a long career and he is always worth watching but in this film I must admit that he gave me the creeps from start to finish. Even his role in Cape Fear wasn't as disturbing as this one. So did it deserve to win the Oscar for Best Picture. Yes it did but not because the story is really compelling. It deserved to win because every minute of the film you feel something, even though it's mostly bad feelings.