Grudge Match (2013)

Thanks for the memories!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Not that it's been on the highest level for quite sometime anyhow, but I'm really starting to lose my last remaining hopefulness regarding new generations. Of movies and their watchers. Here's latest reason for this: "Grudge Match"... What a dud! And especially considering the initial (and natural) fears I had before watching those other "stallone-rehashs" Rocky Balboa (2006) and Rambo (2008) and finding them actually somewhat tolerable in their sadness/tiredness/cynicism, the overall awfulness of this turkey is even more amazing.Well yes, OK, above mentioned were always meant to be "more serious" than this one, but of course with GM you get your excessive amount of "drama" and "bitter relationships" between laughs too. (Or embarrassed grunts, as in my case.) It seems like even some genuine emotions from viewers are phished, but everything is ruined by predictability... Predictability? Try EVERY character's EVERY reaction/remark in EVERY scene, worst examples being no-brainer: Kevin Hart, Alan Arkin, that grandkid. But I still wouldn't claim they act bad, but rather fill their horrible roles flawlessly.All I am saying: 6.4 average for this calculated, manipulative, childish, cliché-ridden vomit is essentially too much. People get wrong ideas.

Surprises are nice. Surprises are interesting. Surprises are fun. It's surprising when a pair of aging boxers show that they can still bring it. It's surprising when aging actors show us something fresh and new. It's surprising when people who have very good reasons to hate each other find common ground. And it's surprising when a movie that you expect to be formulaic turns out to be much more.Life imitating art imitating life is what "Grudge Match" (PG-13, 1:53) is all about. The film stars two actors in their late 60s playing boxers, while both actors had famously played boxers on film in the 1980s. This movie is not Jake LaMotta versus Rocky Balboa (although that would be interesting since the former was a real person and the latter is a fictional character). This pairing of screen legends who have played boxers before and are now playing different boxers who, in the story have boxed before is plenty interesting in its own right.Sylvester Stallone is Henry "Razor" Sharp and Robert DeNiro is Billy "Kid" McDonnen, boxers who came up in the sport as rivals and grew to hate each other, but decide to reunite – professionally, if not personally. When the two light heavyweights first fought each other for the championship, Kid won. In the rematch, Razor won. The tie-breaking grudge match that everyone wanted to see never happened because, for very personal and private reasons, Razor retired from boxing while still in his prime.Fast-forward 30 years. Razor is living a lonely life and barely making ends meet. Kid is a local businessman who is moderately successful, but still nurses a grudge against Razor for refusing to allow him to redeem himself after his one lost fight. When a motion-capture video session for a new boxing video game featuring the two boxing legends leads to a physical confrontation that is caught on cell phone cameras and goes viral, the son (Kevin Hart) of Razor's former boxing promoter brings the two old enemies together so the world can finally see them finish what they started.But before the fight can take place, both men have to overcome their personal animosity, mend fences with others from their shared past and, of course, get their well-past-their-prime bodies into fighting shape… if that's possible. Razor's old friend Louis "Lightning" Conlon (Alan Arkin) trains Razor, while Kid is trained by his estranged son, B.J. (Jon Bernthal), who often has his precocious son Trey (Camden Gray) in tow. Kim Basinger plays Sally, a woman who has something of a history with both Razor and Kid."Grudge Match" doesn't take the easy way out of anything – and the effort pays off. The professional, physical and personal challenges that both men face aren't easily overcome. The drama feels genuine and is perfectly balanced by well-earned laughs. Basinger (a previous Oscar winner) gives the story just the right amount of gravitas and Kevin Hart provides the comic relief, with more than a little help from Arkin and Gray, not to mention the stars themselves. Stallone and DeNiro could've mailed in their performances, but instead, they both give us some real quality acting. DeNiro is alternately funny and heart-breaking, but without falling back on his grumpy guy routine of which we've seen a little too much in the past few years. In fact, DeNiro's character is no comedian, but is the more upbeat of the two main characters. Meanwhile, Stallone is sullen, without being depressing, funny when appropriate and seems to show genuine emotion as he works through a number of personal challenges.But the appeal of this movie doesn't just come from the talented cast. The story is original enough to be engaging and is further enhanced by well-paced and balanced directing and seamless editing. The movie also contains a very appealing soundtrack, with a great mix of well-known tunes and some very cool new music. Even the film's obligatory training montage feels fresh and the climactic fight sequence manages a surprise or two. And speaking of surprises, don't be in too much of a hurry to head for the exits when the credits start to roll, or you'll miss two very clever final scenes."Grudge Match" tells an interesting story, with plenty of laughs, scenes that'll make you smile and even a touching moment or two – and does it all with an unexpected amount of originality. This film fought through some well-worn territory and emerged as a very pleasant surprise – and with an "A-" from me.

When I saw that this movie had Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro in it, that drew me in pretty quick. Plus I like the title of the movie.Anyways, I rented this at Redbox one afternoon and I popped it in immediately after I watched it, and I was not disappointed at all.First off, I liked the plot line of the film a lot. Some say it's very clichéd, but whatever, I enjoyed it. I liked how they pit two of Hollywood's greatest film stars against each other in a boxing match that could spell out victory for whoever wins the last match they ever do.This is the second movie I've seen where De Niro stars in a Comedy and I must say, it is a lot better than the previous movie I saw with him in a Comedy, Analyze That. He's actually funny in this one, and doesn't take himself too seriously.I didn't exactly expect a Comedy at first crack, but then after seeing a brief description on it, I was prepared for what was to come, and this movie delivered on many fronts. It balances the border between serious moments and funny moments keeping the film going at a consistent pace. It's not perfect, but it's very smart.After seeing the two in some very intense movies like The Expendables and Heat, it was refreshing to see the two in a more comedic but still consistently placed movie that has a great story, and interesting characters.The movie isn't without its flaws though. I liked Kevin Hart's performance in the movie, but he didn't exactly play an important role, he was just there to be funny, which would have been great, except his role was not a strong one. Nothing against black people, but it would have been better if his role was more important to the story. Maybe it's just me but that's how I felt.Also, there were some parts in the movie I didn't find funny because the jokes were a little tiresome and a couple of parts did leave me bored.Nevertheless, the movie is great, and those flaws I mentioned were only a mild hindrance to what I got out of it. If you're looking for a clever, and hilarious script, I would definitely recommend this movie. It's not perfect, but it's very well made compared to other films in recent years. I give it an 8/10.

Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Kim Basinger, Kevin Hart, Jon Bernthal and Alan Arkin star in this 2013 sports comedy-drama. This takes place in Pennsylvania focusing on retired boxers, Henry aka "Razor" (Stallone) and Billy aka "The Kid" (De Niro), 2 rivals who haven't fought each other in 30 years. Soon, they meet promoter, Dante (Hart) who talks them into having one last fight with each other since they never got to. They train for the event and deal with their personal lives in the process. Basinger (Batman) plays Sally, Henry's ex-girlfriend, Bernthal (The Walking Dead) plays her son, B.J. who is also Billy's son and Arkin (Edward Scissorhands) plays Henry's trainer & friend, Louis aka "Lightning." LL Cool J, Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield also appear. This is a good flick that obviously pokes fun at "Rocky" and "Raging Bull." It has funny and dramatic moments and Stallone & De Niro are great as usual. I recommend this.