Raging Bull
March 7, 2011
Robert De Niro, what happened?
Shot in gorgeous Black & White and edited to near perfection, "Raging Bull" is one of those rare sports movies that knows how to pack one hell of a powerful punch.Robert De Niro gives what may be his best and strongest performance to date, but what I want to know is why he's being reduced to crap like "Little Fockers".I liked him in "Machete" and I have yet to see "Little Fockers", but it's those types of movies ("Little Fockers") that's going to kill his career.Anyhow, if you're looking for a good boxing movie, look no further.Martin Scorsese directs the movie with a blistering passion and De Niro acts with a vicious attitude, making for one great boxing movie.I must state with a warning that this is not an easy film to endure sometimes.The boxing scenes are quite brutal at certain points and the domestic abuse scenes aren't very tolerable, but these scenes wouldn't have been as powerful without De Niro, who simply deserves praise for his role in this movie.
Jake LaMotta knows how to fight.On the inside of the ring, he's a champion.Every story, however, has a raw core.On the outside of the ring, one could compare LaMotta to a monster.He abuses his wife and gets jealous whenever somebody hugs her or even gives her a kiss on the cheek.This sets a ticking rage bomb ready to explode any minute.Jake goes to his brother Joey (Joe Pesci) for help.He asks him to watch over his wife when he's gone, but things never seem truthful to him.Assuming that his wife slept with someone else is enough to drive him crazy.It's this problem that causes Jake to be a monster in and out of the ring.
Joe Pesci, as always, is great in his role.While he's not as berserk as he was in "Goodfellas" or "Casino", he's still willing to prove that his character has a bit of a mean streak.Cathy Moriarty does her job excellently as Jake's wife.Robert De Niro deserved the Oscar he won for this movie, and anyone who disagrees is better off sitting though Hilary Swank's performance in "Million Dollar Baby".Here is a movie that only someone like Scorsese could pull off.It's brutal and foul-mouthed, like any Scorsese movie, but he handles it with a passion.He makes the overall brutal-ness into overall brilliance, something that can be expected in any of his movies.
Note: Movies don't need to be in Color to be good.If you ask me, Scorsese did the right thing by filming the movie in B&W.
Grade: A-
Shot in gorgeous Black & White and edited to near perfection, "Raging Bull" is one of those rare sports movies that knows how to pack one hell of a powerful punch.Robert De Niro gives what may be his best and strongest performance to date, but what I want to know is why he's being reduced to crap like "Little Fockers".I liked him in "Machete" and I have yet to see "Little Fockers", but it's those types of movies ("Little Fockers") that's going to kill his career.Anyhow, if you're looking for a good boxing movie, look no further.Martin Scorsese directs the movie with a blistering passion and De Niro acts with a vicious attitude, making for one great boxing movie.I must state with a warning that this is not an easy film to endure sometimes.The boxing scenes are quite brutal at certain points and the domestic abuse scenes aren't very tolerable, but these scenes wouldn't have been as powerful without De Niro, who simply deserves praise for his role in this movie.
Jake LaMotta knows how to fight.On the inside of the ring, he's a champion.Every story, however, has a raw core.On the outside of the ring, one could compare LaMotta to a monster.He abuses his wife and gets jealous whenever somebody hugs her or even gives her a kiss on the cheek.This sets a ticking rage bomb ready to explode any minute.Jake goes to his brother Joey (Joe Pesci) for help.He asks him to watch over his wife when he's gone, but things never seem truthful to him.Assuming that his wife slept with someone else is enough to drive him crazy.It's this problem that causes Jake to be a monster in and out of the ring.
Joe Pesci, as always, is great in his role.While he's not as berserk as he was in "Goodfellas" or "Casino", he's still willing to prove that his character has a bit of a mean streak.Cathy Moriarty does her job excellently as Jake's wife.Robert De Niro deserved the Oscar he won for this movie, and anyone who disagrees is better off sitting though Hilary Swank's performance in "Million Dollar Baby".Here is a movie that only someone like Scorsese could pull off.It's brutal and foul-mouthed, like any Scorsese movie, but he handles it with a passion.He makes the overall brutal-ness into overall brilliance, something that can be expected in any of his movies.
Note: Movies don't need to be in Color to be good.If you ask me, Scorsese did the right thing by filming the movie in B&W.
Grade: A-
Posted by Tyler Kirk.
