Stepping into the ring with a couple of acting heavyweights
While everyone is still talking about Downton Abbey’s stellar opening (and rightfully so), one of the movie world’s most beloved action characters bid farewell last weekend with Rambo: Last Blood. Sylvester Stallone has brought his iconic on-screen persona back to the screen for what is supposedly his last outing ever as the damaged vet. The final installment has brought forth claims of racism and really bad script, but has still made enough to place third this past weekend behind the folks over at Downton and a space-traveling Brad Pitt.
In many ways, I really hope this is Stallone’s final Rambo outing. Between resurrecting the franchises of old (Rambo, Rocky) and establishing franchises new (The Expendables, Escape Plan), Hollywood desperately needs to give the star something original to do. This has been a problem for much of his career as ventures outside Stallone’s comfort zone, including Tango & Cash, Oscar, and Cop Land have been received with far less enthusiasm when compared to his more action-driven outings. The same trend apparently extends to recent times as evidenced by Stallone’s teaming with Robert De Niro in the unfairly ignored, if surprisingly effective, 2013 dramedy Grudge Match.
In Grudge Match, De Niro and Stallone play Billy “The Kid” McDonnen and John “Razor” Sharp, respectively. The pair were two of the boxing world’s most unbeatable fighters and arch enemies both in and out of the ring. However, Razor’s sudden announcement of retirement put the brakes on a planned match between the two that was to determine who was the top champ. Years later, hungry boxing promoter Dante (Kevin Hart) gathers the two 70-somethings for a rematch that will settle the score once and for all, causing a media sensation in the process. No sooner is the fight scheduled that Razor’s former flame Sally (Kim Basinger) and Billy’s long-lost son B.J. (Jon Bernthal) come out of the woodwork as the long-in-the-making grudge match approaches.
For a movie seemingly centered around boxing, it may surprise and/or disappoint folks to know that Grudge Match doesn’t contain all that much of it. Truth be told, there’s only a handful of minutes actually featuring the sport within the film. With a “finishing what we started” aspect about it, Grudge Match is a movie more about boxing sensibilities and specifically, what happens to these guys once the fight is over. Going slightly beyond the surface, this is also a movie about lost dreams as seen from two completely different vantage points. For the semi-reclusive, emotionally fragile Razor, there’s a fear in revisiting the world he gave up on, including a lost happiness with Sally. In contrast, Billy can’t stop chasing the glory he lost, refusing to accept himself outside of the world he felt defined him. The common factor between the two men is how their fire and passion for boxing transcends their histories and ages, becoming reignatied once they’re back in the ring. Both Razor and Billy find themselves right where they left off with a second chance they intend to see through until the end. By the time the titular match takes place, the movie has already firmly established itself as a boxing tale that’s about the spirit of the sport and the drive which pulls people towards it.
One thing most didn’t take into account when the film was first released was how well humor and pathos mix throughout Grudge Match. Dante’s desperation to make a name for himself in the field on the heels of the comeback he’s orchestrating carries much of the comedy weight here. The subplot gives way to a number of hilarious scenes; namely the various publicity stunts featuring the two nonplussed fighters, including badly warbling the National Anthem at a roller derby and unconvincingly endorsing the buffet restaurant at a tacky casino. The comedy is interspersed with doses of drama which thankfully never feel false, avoiding the cliche used by most studio efforts of overdoing exposition. There’s a great sense of catharsis in the scenes between Billy and B.J. as father and son discuss why the former never acknowledged the latter until now. Similar moments of vulnerability and general loveliness accompany the scenes between Razor and Sally as they both examine where they went wrong and whether or not their story is really finished. Yet the most rewarding aspect of Grudge Match is the way the seasoned pair generates inspiration when it comes to not letting age or the past keep them from seizing the life still ahead of them.
There’s a built-in draw at seeing these two legends star in a movie together, let alone go at it in the ring. Watching a scenario where Jake La Motta takes on Rocky Balboa is pure candy to lovers of sports movies and classic cinema alike. As if that weren’t enough, the makers of Grudge Match actually give the two pros some genuinely decent roles for a mainstream Hollywood film, allowing them to show audiences that they’ve still got it. Watching Stallone and De Niro go at it from different acting standpoints remains one of the most enjoyable aspects of Grudge Match. Stallone’s raw instinct and De Niro’s famed intensity have both shifted in their later years, but here they still manage to conjure up enough magic to remind audiences why they found the two so compelling in the first place.
Accompanying the two movie titans are a collection of fine actors doing some true quality work. Basinger exudes the kind of softness needed to offset the combativeness between the two main characters, while Bernthal manages to hold his own as he gives a genuinely believable turn as De Niro’s son. Alan Arkin may have had better roles than Louis, the grizzled old trainer determined to get Razor back into shape, but the actor proves a great comedic sparring partner for the authentically funny Hart.
Grudge Match was originally scheduled for a mid-January release, which would have been perfect for a low-key title such as this, possibly allowing it the chance to find an audience fighting post-holiday fatigue. But the powers that be at Warner Bros. felt that Christmas Day needed another release and scheduled a December 25th opening for the movie where it was forced to compete with more high-profile fare such as The Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle. By the time the box-office dust had settled, Grudge Match lay there clobbered with very little returns to show for itself. If the audiences ignored the movie, the critics slaughtered it, harshly (and bewilderingly) comparing it to the boxing movie classics which had helped give the two leads their names decades earlier.
Ultimately, the beauty of a film like Grudge Match lies in its universality. Watching the movie, it’s easy to see an offering like this existing in any era, whether it be the 50s or the 10s. The reason for this is not because boxing is a timeless tradition, but because character-driven films such as this are frozen in time. This is a film that is content to have its characters do nothing but reflect on the past and the various choices they’ve made. At the same time, the movie retains an inspirational element of never losing one’s passion; not just for boxing, but for life and the aspects of it which matter most to each person. Grudge Match will never be counted among Stallone or De Niro’s best, even in regards to their later works. Yet as a movie experience in its own right, it’s just special enough that it doesn’t have to.