Grudge Match

GRUDGE MATCH

Director : Peter Segal

Year : 2014

Genre : Comedy

Rating : ***

Is a boxing comedy starring an aged Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone, the stars of the two most influential and revered boxing films of all time really supposed to be appealing? It sounds like a recipe for disaster to me and whats more, a film almost guaranteed to be hated by critics. However, thanks to an entertaining screenplay and good chemistry between it's two heavyweight stars, 'Grudge Match' actually turns out to be quite a fun, goodhearted romp. Sure it's no 'Rocky' or 'Raging Bull', but it has no aspirations to be and while they could indeed look very silly,  both Stallone and De Niro deliver good performances and well executed comedy. It's by no means a great film, but while it was on I certainly enjoyed myself and I would be more than willing to watch it again in the future.

De Niro and Stallone play Pittsburgh boxers Billy 'The Kid' McDonnen and Henry 'Razor' Sharp respectively; two fighters who have forged a deep seated grudge since a number of matches caused controversy and hatred thirty years earlier. Now in their autumn years, the two are pulled back into the ring with the promise of redemption and a healthy pay packet.

Director Peter Segal may be best known to moviegoers for his work with Adam Sandler on such movies as 'Anger Management' and 'The Longest Yard' as well as a number of less well received comedies such as 'The Nutty Professor 2 : The Klumps' and 'Get Smart'. Much like a large majority of his other so - called comedies, 'Grudge Match' does lose it's footing when it comes to humour and some of the time, it's stars are lost in an ocean of lazy jokes and astoundingly unfunny side characters. However, De Niro and Stallone manage to hold their own and Segal finds a way of bleeding out both of the stars comedic and serious sides.

It may be said now that both Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone are past their acting prime and yes it's true that neither one have given performances worthy of their earlier years in ages. Despite this however, both actors actually come across quite well in 'Grudge Match' and the screenplay which, while chock a block full of cliches, contains a number of well written soliloquys and a fair bit of scene stealing dialogue that reminds us just why these actors, especially De Niro, were once considered some of the best around.

Stallone is enjoyable as the aging, revenge filled but empathetic Sharp while De Niro has great fun playing the cocky, womanising carefree McDonnen and these two clashing personalities make for some funny moments of scriptwriting and overall, entertaining and somewhat believable chemistry. Of course, both characters are given pointless side stories such as boring romantic interests and the done to death 'prodigal son' elements which do slow the drive of the narrative, but thankfully they don't take up much of the screen time and Segal quickly pulls us back into the main plot and the arcs of it's main characters.

Unfortunately the supporting cast doesn't prove to be as consistently entertaining as it's main stars and thanks to some truly obnoxiously annoying side characters, 'Grudge Match' does become a bit of an endurance test. In the red corner we have Alan Arkin, one of the most charismatic and easily likable actors in Hollywood who is wildly underused and overplayed as a foul mouthed, almost omniscient boxing trainer; a character who is completely built around tired viagra puns and vulgar slang. While his character is indeed annoying, Arkin's performance is Shakespearean compared to the colossal comedic black hole that is the role of Dante Slate played by comedian Kevin Hart. Known for his work in such masterpieces as 'Meet Dave', 'Scary Movie' 3 & 4 and of course, the not so epic 'Epic Movie', Hart has taken Chris Rocks mantle as the over energetic, always shouting, always screaming motormouth African American archetype who does nothing to serve the narrative but does everything in his power to destroy whatever charm the film had generated beforehand. Like nails on a chalkboard, Hart's character is loud, obnoxious and monumentally unpleasant, immediately distracting from the (little) story and the various character arcs and developments that the director is trying so desperately o explore.

Predictably, 'Grudge Match' has been met with a healthy amount of critical derision, with far too many analysts comparing the film to 'Raging Bull' and 'Rocky'. While of course the movie isn't worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence of those two cinematic behemoths, judging it on it's own merits, I found it to be a rather charming affair with some good performances and a number of funny and entertaining scenes. I can't imagine it's going to make a massive profit and I am sure it will do nothing to change both of it's stars dwindling reputations, but it could be so much worse than it actually is.