Grudge Match **
It is with very heavy heart to inform those whose interest has been pricked by the union of two screen ‘boxing’ legends, Robert De Niro (Raging Bull) and Sylvester Stallone (Rocky) that Grudge Match is a lacklustre attempt at capitalising on the ringside magic that made them famous. The fact is the actual fight takes an age to get going, and if it weren’t for some cheap sideshow entertainment from the likes of Alan Arkin and Kevin Hart, there would be no clout. The latter are the film’s much-needed energy, with the top-billed stars – and the filmmakers – in their debt.
Henry ‘Razor’ Sharp (Stallone) and Billy ‘The Kid’ McDonnen (De Niro) are a pair of old-time boxers in their sixties who loathe each other. Dante Slate, Jr. (Hart), the son of their former unscrupulous agent coaxes them out of retirement after cultivating media interest to see them fight one last bout, 30 years after their last meeting. But can they put their differences aside to stage one last match…
Much like its leads, the film mainly mopes about with a deep-set grudge that is never fully explained – except the falling out over a girl (now a woman) called Sally, played by Kim Basinger. Admittedly, there is nothing wrong with seeing Stallone and De Niro having a grump on, and the pair gets quite a few sniggers at their underhand retorts, like two pensioners who can get away with saying anything. The outrageous is left to filter-lacking trainer Louis ‘Lightning’ Conlon, played with devilish glee by Arkin, who injects the naughtiness, while Hart does his rapid-fire verbal performance to keep things lively.
There is enjoyment to be had at watching two ‘dinosaurs’ out of their depth in the new world of technology that catapults them into online stardom. However, much like Lightning’s jokes, you start expecting this in the very next line uttered. Coupled with this are the standard training montages, but with some nice nods to De Niro and Stallone’s iconic boxing characters.
Director Peter Segal and screenwriting team Tim Kelleher and Rodney Rothman shamelessly tug on our heartstrings with some ‘self-discovery’ moments for the pair, with the importance of family: It seems you are never too old for a journey of self-reflection or to be ‘reborn’, and this is the film’s heartbeat.
The fight scene is more wince inducing than blood-thirsty thrilling as you watch two older guys knocking seven bells out of each other. There is a respect for both actors who strip down to their shorts for the very physical finale, potbellies and all exposed. However, what is missing is a real hunger to see the pair go at each other that the previous scenes are presumably meant to be building up to.
Grudge Match leaves you gunning for more, where the line-up delivers more than the event itself. De Niro and Stallone do the best they can and we applaud them for that; it’s the script that is limp. Relying on the star draw is the laziest kind of filmmaking and quite criminal here with two heavyweights of the big screen.
2/5 stars
By @FilmGazer
