Over-rated, not Scorsese's best.

Rating: Null/10 (1 May 2017)

You have to honor Robert's dedication to the role. But despite quality acting he's nonetheless portraying a totally unlikable, one dimensional character: he's a brutal, paranoid wife-beater. In the jail cell towards the end he seems to have a brief moment of acknowledging his shortcomings. But his character arc is non-existing, as nothing much changes for him. In that regard he is a very Shakespearean character that ends up lonely. But the emotional impact is only mild since it was nearly impossible to sympathize with Jake for the whole movie. At some point you might strongly root for Jake's wife, but even she is a passive and rather unimpressive character.
The film does not have many memorable scenes – only the last boxing fight and the TV scene qualify. The last boxing fight has a very effective visual style. All black and white, blood, gore. It signals that it's all downhill from here on for Jake. Apart from that, the camera work is rather unimpressive.
In summary, the movie seems rather over-rated. It depicts the character of the "Raging Bull" and his famous temper very convincingly. But it takes two hours to tell the story of the consequential downfall of this man and once it's over, you want at least half an hour back. The story did not bore me at any point, but it did not force me to the edge of my seat either. It does not stand for repeated re-watching, unless you're interested in doing a character study.