It is generally understood and acknowledged that Martin Scorsese (“Taxi Driver”, “Mean Streets”, “The Aviator”, “The Departed”) is America’s greatest living director. Some critics feel a strong emotional with the director and his film, his Italian-American Catholic upbringing often featuring in his films and often resonating with his fans. In 1981, not long after “Rocky” ran up the stairs to cheesy success, Scorsese made “Raging Bull” featuring Robert de Niro in a now legendary performance as boxer Jake la Motta, a role for which De Niro eventually picked up 60 pounds. That’s not an acting achievement, it’s madness, no matter how you try to frame it as “noble” or “for the craft”.
The film, shot in black and white, isn’t easy viewing (it did make me wish that more filmmakers were brave enough to shoot in stunning b&w). La Motta is a despicable character with next to no redeeming factors. For most of the film, De Niro plays him like a bulldozer. At least there’s his second wife Vickie (Cathy Moriarty), who isn’t all that likeable herself, and Jake’s brother Joey (Joe Pesci). Here Pesci upstages De Niro for the first time; he would do so again in the 1990s gangster classic “Goodfellas”, a much more accomplished film than this one. "Raging Bull" is worth a watch but not the hype.
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