Just doesn't hold the interest.

Rating: 4/10 (26 July 2008)

This is an incredibly contrived effort, for sure. The black and white photography is accurate. The plot has no colour. No life. No vibrancy. It's all just very uninteresting for the viewer. Some boxer with a prosthetic nose has a few fights and goes fat. That's the thin excuse for a plot. The boxing scenes are very amateur in execution, none of them have the shocking realism of Rocky IV. The cast stand around begging us to respect the movie instead of acting. In a couple of scenes, De Niro can be seen sniffing the air: He's sniffing out an Oscar(R) but for sure he will fail. Self conscious performances abound. There is not a hint of realism as in Rocky IV. Rocky movies make you sit up and take notice. They move you. Raging Bull moved me, too. Right out of the cinema.
Raging BULL, indeed.