Grudge Match

3.5 Stars (out of four)

So, Grudge Match was a real surprise.  I went in expecting a funny little comedy and came out getting not only that, but a picture with a lot of heart.  Where did that come from?  This was certainly not what I was expecting, and I was pleasantly surprised.  I think when people see Sylvester Stallone doing another boxing movie, they just roll their eyes, even with knowing that it's a comedy.  But I have found that in the last ten years or so, Sly has really upped his game and given us movies we didn't really expect would be any good.  From Rocky Balboa to Rambo to The Expendibles to this, I have been wooed back to his side, redeeming a horrible decade of such fare as Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot, Tango & Cash, Judge Dredd and Oscar.

Grudge Match starts with a great rivalries in sports, where two great boxers, Henry 'Razor' Sharp (Stallone), and Billy 'Kid' McDonnen (Robert DeNiro) fought two unforgettable boxing matches with each winning one.  On the eve of a third match, Razor suddenly and inexplicably retires.  Since then, Razor has been eking out a living working in a Pittsburg steel mill.  Kid ended up being rich and famous and now owns a car dealership and a bar.  A young, Don King-esque promoter named Dante Slate, Jr. (Kevin Hart, hilariously stealing every scene), comes up to him with a proposition, to do motion-capture for a new boxing video game. Considering Dante's father stole most of Razor's fortune with shady deals and also that Razor and Kid deeply hate each other, he is less than enthused to do it.  However, financial problems force him to take the job with the precondition that Kid will not be there.  Through a scheduling mixup, Kid shows up and a real fight breaks out.  The fight is filmed and posted on the Web where it instantly goes viral, fueling national speculation that a new fight is a possibility.  The fight eventually happens and the grudge match is on.

There is a lot of interesting plots going on with this film that raise it above a lesser comedies about boxing like The Great White Hype.  It has all the boxing conventions: two bitter rivals, the grizzled trainer (Alan Arkin, as funny as ever), the old flame (Kim Basinger), the unctuous promoter, training montages, internal questioning, and the final fight.  As I stated before though, it also has a lot of heart.  Razor must reconcile with a former flame.  The womanizing Kid meets a son, and grandson, he never knew he had and must come to grips about his own selfishness.  Dante is working to get himself out from under his father's conniving shadow to make a name for himself separate from his dad's shady ways.  And finally, it deals with letting the past go, no matter how painful, in order to move on with the future.  Stallone has long been a conservative voice in Hollywood, and it is no surprise he decided to do this film, considering the old-fashioned messages.  But it is a treat to see these two actors who have both played iconic boxing roles, to step into the ring once more.  Even more interesting, they play the same type of characters as their previous movies.  Stallone playing the good, heart of gold Rocky and DeNiro playing the bad, hateful Jake LaMotta.  It is fun to watch and I must say, do not let your preconceptions fool you.  This is a very good movie and worth a watch to anyone.  Also, stick around when the credits begin to roll for a great, final stinger that will make you leave laughing.