Review of Grudge Match (2013) by Midlands M — 05 Aug 2014

Stallone and De Niro clash in their first outing since Cop Land as the former Rocky and Raging Bull play aging boxers who decide to have one final match to settle an old stalemate from the past. Stallone plays the reluctant 'Razor' Sharp who is happy to move on with his life whilst Robert 'Stay Puft' De Niro plays Billy 'The Kid' McDonnen who is eager for a final fight to resolve their rivalry.

Rounding out the cast is Kim Basinger, always watchable as an old flame that came between the two, Alan Arkin who plays to type as a cranky old sports trainer and Kevin Hart as the token black loudmouth promoter.

Opening with a sportscast round up of their past fights, poor CGI retro shots are mixed with photos on the news that are clearly Rocky and RB promotional shots, the film's subplot involving family ties and a long lost son tries to give the film some weight but is as flabby as De Niro's gut.

Using the clichés from similar boxing films it neither twists nor subverts them and is unsure of its true intentions starting off as a comedy then changing attack by becoming more like a day time TV melodrama.

However, just when you need a montage we get the old school cross cutting training section plus an ironic nod to the meat locker and a segment comparing boxing with MMA. For every cleverly set up scene there is LL Cool J getting punched in the balls and throw in the estranged son and a cheeky young child and the clichés are complete.

As old age catches up with them both we get more heartfelt moments in place of the ludicrous banter of the Expendables one-liners but the fight scenes are realistically done - especially compared to a recent viewing of Rocky 3 which were laughably bad.

That said the film has a meandering middle section like a middle-aged slump and although neither actor hits the heights of their respective boxing classics it lands a few entertaining punches. 6.5/10 Midlands Movies Mike.