Let’s be honest: the trailer for GRUDGE MATCH isn’t great, and I can tell you here and now (January) that the poster will make it onto any 'worst photoshop jobs of 2014' lists you care to look for come December. With that in mind, expectations weren’t terribly high, but – surprise, surprise, this is actually a fairly accomplished, level-headed and even at times charming comedy.
We’re informed that thirty-odd years ago, the rivalry between boxers Henry ‘Razor’ Sharp (Sylvester Stallone) and Billy ‘The Kid’ McDonnen (Robert DeNiro) was one for the ages. They met in the ring twice, each winning one match, and before the third could happen, Sharp walked away from the sport – to reveal the reason why, as slight as it may be, might spoil things. Dodgy entrepreneur Dante Slate Jr. (Kevin Hart) however, sees dollars in their still running feud, and is desperate to get the two fighters, now in their 60s, back in the ring. He succeeds of course, and as the countdown to the fight approaches the pair must not only lose their unwanted wobbly bits before going wrinkle to wrinkle.
There’s nothing particularly surprising plot-wise: it’s basically once-removed from ROCKY BALBOA with jokes (mostly old guys belittling each other and themselves) and the added perspective of the opponent. DeNiro still has trouble doing broader humour, but comfortably emotes a vain, lascivious jerk finally becoming a better man via unexpected contact with estranged family. If anything, it’s Stallone who feels the more natural comedian, seemingly more comfortable dishing out droll one-liners – although he does have the evergreen presence of Alan Arkin to work with.
The ROCKY and RAGING BULL references are wisely few and short (maybe Stallone learned his self-referencing lesson after TANGO & CASH, DeNiro his after ROCKY & BULLWINKLE). In fact it soon becomes apparent that casting these two with their famous boxing movie pedigrees isn't entirely for novelty's sake; by the time the fighting scenes kick in, the duo's still-evident skills still impress - not necessarily in terms of suspension of disbelief, but as an aspect physical performance.
It stumbles over a few hurdles - its look, for example: presumably in an effort to run with the ageing, warts-n-all feel of the script, director Peter Segal (50 FIRST DATES, GET SMART) and cinematographer Dean Semler (MAD MAX 2, DANCES WITH WOLVES) have chosen a dull, muted look for their Pittsburgh setting - fine for the outdoor stuff, but the interiors look strangely, noticeably drab, which leads to noticing that the camera blocking is weird, and the mind begins to wander, yada yada yada. It doesn’t weigh the film down to any great extent, but it is there
But it also gets a lot right – it may at no point be spleen-rupturingly hilarious, but it offers enough consistent laughs, and there’s a warmth to it that makes Segal’s film, once it gets going, easy to like.
GRUDGE MATCH is released on January 24 in the UK, and January 30 in Australia and New Zealand.