Review: Grudge Match
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
[Grade: C] Quite possibly the most inoffensive boxing movie ever made.
City Paper grade: C
A string of referential Rocky and Raging Bull jokes stuck together with some good old-fashioned schmaltz, Grudge Match might be the most inoffensive boxing movie ever made, taking one of cinema’s richest sporting traditions and wrapping it in puppy-covered gift paper. Fierce enemies in their heyday, fighters Henry “Razor” Sharp (Sylvester Stallone) and Billy “The Kid” McDonnen (Robert De Niro) split a pair of bouts against each other, but never got the opportunity for the deciding rubber match. The chance to settle the score comes up some 30 years later, when Dante Slate Jr. (Kevin Hart), son of the fighters’ original promoter, coaxes both retirees into training with the promise of a sweet payday. Forever disgusted with each other because of their in-ring exploits and a spat over a woman (Kim Basinger), the men whip bodies and minds back into shape while dealing with rekindled romances, financial woes and surprise sons. There are mild laughs, mainly delivered by the spastic Hart and Alan Arkin in his best pair of cranky-pants, but it’s altogether too sweet on the sweet science.
