Raging Bull Movie Review

 "They robbed you. They're miserable because their mothers take it up their fucking ass."

-Joey La Motta

So earlier this week I embarked on a Martin Scorsese marathon that began with Raging Bull. I'll start of by saying that I really loved this movie. It was a bit unappealing to me at first simply because it was a black and white boxing film, not something I would be particularly interested in seeing. But considering is starred Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci I just had to experience it for myself.

I am a huge huge fan of older Italian mafia/ gangster type movies like The Godfather, Casino, Goodfellas and so on and this movie had many similarities to that very style of film. This was mostly portrayed by De Niro and Pesci's raw talent. I found myself laughing so much at the dialogue between these two. It was the classic 80's Italian mannerisms from the way they spoke and acted to the things they did. On the negative side of this, it was clearly portrayed how a lot of these men treated their wives with little to no respect, as we've seen in many other gangster movies.

Nonethless, this was not a gangster film. De Niro plays real life Jake La Motta, a self-destructive boxer, who we follow over the course of his career. He was a fantastic boxer but he wasn't a very good person. Supported by his brother Joey and other close acquaintances he was able to win fight after fight but could never really stay on track. At an early point in the film he meets his future wife Vickie played by Cathy Moriarty. She is very beautiful and has a strong performance in the film. It's pretty sad how she was treated so badly but still stuck around for so long with Jake.

Despite being an asshole you still feel for him at some points, otherwise it wouldn't have been too interesting of a film. This was one of the few movies I've seen with Joe Pesci where he isn't an uncontrollable maniac! He's usually the hot-headed one while De Niro usually seems to be more composed but it is exactly the opposite in Raging Bull. The film showed us the highs and lows of a fantastic boxer without making him the hero. This isn't a cliche boxing movie in the slightest. De Niro really put himself into the role and did an incredible job of showing us the complexities within this character. I give Raging Bull an 8.5 out of 10 for a strong cast, a compelling story, and a great director.