Cathy Moriarty
Joe Pesci
Well, Raging Bull is a movie that drags, then after a while picks up,
and then drags on till it ends. To me, this movie doesn’t live up to the
classic rating it gets. The pacing is my biggest issue with this movie, it
feels unnecessarily slow in places, and there were times when the story is
stretching itself. The plot itself is straightforward but not engaging enough
to justify the length of this movie and even De Niro’s performance could not
help to save this movie.
It tells the story of Jake LaMotta, an Italian American boxer, based on
his book Raging Bull: My Story. Robert De Niro portrays LaMotta, a sadistic and
jealous individual.
In this movie we see a talented middleweight boxer whose success in the
ring is overshadowed by his self-destructive behavior outside it. Fueled by
jealousy, rage, and insecurity, Jake's violent temper destroys his
relationships with family, friends, and managers.
De Niro came across the story during the shooting of The Godfather II. He showed it to Scorsese, hoping he would make the movie, but Scorsese turned it down. After nearly dying from a drug overdose, Scorsese agreed to make the film for De Niro’s sake—not only to save his own life but also to save what remained of his career.
After the script was made, both Scorsese and De Niro spent two and a half weeks on the island of Saint Martin, extensively rebuilding the film’s content, changing what needed changing and adding what was missing.
The photography was nice; shooting in black and white didn’t stop the movie from getting its message across. The movie helped launch Joe Pesci’s career, and the acting by all involved is an A+.
The locations and sets make you feel like you’re in the 50s, as they were well designed. The cinematography in the ring during fights is something I enjoyed, as the camera captured all angles and the blood flying was well worked into it.
The other downside, besides the length, is the fight choreography. You can see at times the punches weren’t landing and were clearly faked.
This is one of eight movies De Niro and Scorsese made together, and not one of their best, as Goodfellas still remains their top.
I have this feeling that if this movie was done now, it will be a lot better. As of now there is no remake of this movie done, but I believe a remake will address the issues above. Not to put a damper on the mood of those who call this a classic, but to me Raging Bull is a nice watch once, and that’s that.
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