Grudge Match

On paper, Grudge Match is an easy sell: a boxing film fuelled by teaming two of the stars of their genre – their heyday long since passed – playing characters in a similar situation. Rocky versus the Raging Bull, the corresponding pitch obviously screamed: ‘Sylvester Stallone versus Robert De Niro’! This pairing, their second after 1997’s Cop Land, is not without a sense of spectacle. Their casting as sparring, aging fighters still attempting to eke out a living, is not without its purposeful irony.

In the early 1980s, Henry ‘Razor’ Sharp (Stallone, Escape Plan) and Billy ‘the Kid’ McDonnen (De Niro, American Hustle) went head-to-head in two separate bouts, Razor walking away from the sport on the eve of their third. When the son of their former promoter (Kevin Hart, This is the End) attempts to reunite the duelling duo three decades later, the acrimonious Razor is still reluctant to participate. Returning to the ring – and the lucrative payday that comes with it – eventually proves too alluring, but the venom lingers between the long-term adversaries. The re-emergence of Sally (Kim Basinger, Charlie St. Cloud), the woman who came between them, only heightens the contest. The men persevere not just to show that they can, but to reclaim their pride.

Director Peter Segal (Get Smart) and writers Tim Kelleher (TV’s Two and a Half Men) and Rodney Rothman (the forthcoming 22 Jump Street) are aware of the seemingly self-evident plot. The end product smacks of a film thought able to write and direct itself. That the story and execution always take the obvious path is unsurprising, as is the air of farce that pits the pair against each other in increasingly ludicrous circumstances. Also concerning: an unwavering sense of self-awareness, stretched beyond the bounds of credibility. Stallone’s Razor dwells in the trappings of his blue-collar lifestyle, and De Niro’s Kid peddles a tired comedy routine as the warm-up act at his bar. But Rocky Balboa and Jake LaMotta they are not.

At every turn, the film is content merely to revel in and meander through its concept, weaving a relaxed web of lazy clichés, simple gags and overused training montages around Stallone and De Niro’s bickering, bantering odd couple. Added complexity – in the form of an adult son (Jon Bernthal, The Wolf of Wall Street) intent on connecting with his father, a precocious grandchild (Camden Gray, Californication), and a cantankerous former trainer (Alan Arkin, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone) – does just that, but only for the sake of it. Neither increased laughs nor enhanced depth come as a consequence.

And yet, Grudge Match doesn’t try to be anything more than it is, its scenes of grumpy old men vainly endeavouring to reclaim their glory days filled with evident glee. Neither performer is what they were thirty years ago, nor should they be – and, in a rare feat of recognition for both, neither tries to be. The earnest take on tired former champions struggling to find peace with their fading fortunes becomes the film’s unexpected strength, with Stallone eliciting sympathy and sensitivity, and De Niro emerging cheeky rather than cranky. The film may have prompted instant approval in its formative stages, but the real credit belongs not with the driving notion, but the accompanying lead casting – both miles from their best and seemingly, enjoyably aware of it.

Grudge Match

Release date: January 30
Distributor:  Roadshow
Rated: M