Raging Bull (1980)

Released:  December 19^th, 1980

Rated:  R

Studio:  United Artists

Starring:  Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty

Directed by:  Martin Scorsese             

Written by:  Paul Schrader, Mardik Martin

Personal Bias Alert:  likes boxing movies, finds Scorsese very hit or miss, hates misogyny

3.5 of 10

            This is a film I was bound to dislike.  We all have a few things that we just can’t stand, that make us lean back in our chair, cross our arms tightly, and do that disgusted scowl.  Misogyny is one of mine.  Now I’m not claiming that anyone involved in the making of this film is misogynistic, including its male-centric director Martin Scorsese.  They are simply telling the story of a man consumed by his own macho ego, who is, yes, misogynistic, but also temperamental and deeply insecure.  Many excellent films have been made about a flawed character’s descent, but this is one I simply couldn’t get behind.

            Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro) is the flawed boxer whose descent is tracked in “Raging Bull.”  His dream is to win the middleweight title, a goal that’s well within his reach, but his refusal to work with the mob hampers his chances at a title shot.   His brother, Joey (Joe Pesci), works as his manager.  The meat of the film spans Jake’s fifteen year career, although most of the action takes place outside the ring, with Jake and Joey navigating their tumultuous relationships with friends, family, and each other.

            The film is bookended with two scenes of an aging Jake, overweight and puffing on a cigar, practicing a routine he is about to perform onstage.  Much has been made of the impressive weight gain De Niro underwent to film the later portions of Jake’s life.  It helps to see him pant through his lines, but the performance itself is greater than any physical feat.  The brash ego of Jake always shines through, and De Niro plays the part without any concern for good looks.  Pesci works on the same level as De Niro, but the third wheel in this act, Jake’s wife Vickie played by Cathy Moriarty, is stiff.  I read later that this was her first acting role, having been recruited for her voice and looks.  These things don’t make a performance, and her inability to bring anything to an otherwise weak character is a big flaw in the film.

            The cinematography is an often lauded part of the film, and I must agree with the consensus here.  It’s great work; even the unnecessary black and white shtick that I normally find distractingly pretentious didn’t bother me here.  It really conveys the feeling of being in a room with these people, of sitting with their nastiness and madness.  The boxing scenes are visceral, and the repeated shots of water flowing down the boxer’s bodies was almost hypnotic.  Despite the violence of the fights, we understand the appeal of the ring.  It’s the one place where it’s acceptable for Jake to be the raging bull that he is.

            I really can’t fault the film from a technical standpoint.  It’s very well crafted, but the story just didn’t work for me.  The first scene we get of Jake as a young man outside the ring is him blowing up at his wife for cooking a steak too long.  It’s a long verbal and physical explosion that makes Jake’s flaws immediately apparent.  While I hated the misogyny Jake and Joey show throughout the movie, there was still a chance for this film to be interesting if it truly showed Jake’s descent.  The problem is, Jake doesn’t really change throughout the film.  He’s nasty to everyone, and the conversations and conflicts he has with the people surrounding him never change.  His first wife disappears shortly after the aforementioned argument, and Jake quickly picks up Vickie.  Their crumbling marriage is shown, but the film already gave away how Jake’s marriages end.  The other major relationship failure is between Jake and Joey, but that also plays out as an endless repeat of the same arguments.  The movie finally gets interesting once Jake retires, but until then I found the film to be an aggravating slog.

            Jake does show a little self-awareness at the end, settling into a life of small-time performances that pay the bills.  The film ends with Jake reciting the famous monologue from “On the Waterfront,” in which Marlon Brando blames his brother for his life’s failures and laments “I coulda been a contender.”  They’re fitting lines for Jake, serving to reveal how little he’s actually changed.  He’s still insecure and blaming others for his problems, including the person who probably put up with the most from him.  Before taking the stage, Jake does some shadowboxing to pump himself up.  He’s still fighting, but I was simply uninterested in the fight.

            Other Notes:

Ø  This film is based on the real-life Jake LaMotta’s memoir “Raging Bull:  My Story.”

Ø  As much as I liked the cinematography, I really didn’t like the slow-motion shot of Sugar Ray Robinson about to pummel Jake.  It evoked the same weirdness I feel when I see a picture of someone mid-swing in baseball or tennis.  They always look laughably ridiculous.

Ø  I feel sheepish giving this film a bad review.  It’s like I’m committing film lover blasphemy.