Raging Bull (1980)
My only reference for boxing films are the first Rocky and Million Dollar Baby and this is really nothing like either of those. It isn’t really about the boxing as such, but a portrayal of a broken very angry man, which Scorsese apparently like to explore a lot in his films.
De Niro is well deserving of his Oscar and so does Thelma Schoonmaker for the editing. These two are the best elements of this movie. As much as I can recognize and appreciate all the things that work here, my main issue is simply that I don’t have quite the same interest in angry and violent men as Scorsese. He doesn’t seek to find an explanation or delve deeper into the psyche of LaMotta. We mostly observe and feel pity for how his destructive behavior hurts those around him, but I am still mostly left pretty indifferent to LaMotta himself. I had similar experience with both Taxi Driver and Goodfellas. Being in company with De Niro and his very self destructive violent mobster like figures can be a bit tiring, but he is incredibly good at it.
Rating: 3.5