By: debbie lynn elias
Thank you director Peter Segal, Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Jon Bernthal and Kevin Hart for giving me a great early Christmas present with GRUDGE MATCH. The fictional story of former boxers Henry “Razor” Sharp and Billy “The Kid” McDonnen, Razor and Kid haven’t spoken in 30 years. Each winning hotly contested bouts against the other with a third match set to “break the tie”, on the eve of the final bout, Razor abruptly throws in the towel, announcing not only his retirement from the sport, but the cancellation of the fight. Bringing both of their boxing careers to a screeching halt, the two haven’t spoken since.
Over the years, Kid has parlayed his name into an endorsement bonanza, owning a car dealership and restaurant supper club, the latter where he performs doing a puppet act. Razor has slipped into relative obscurity, going to work at a local Pittsburgh ironworks foundry and helping care for his former trainer, Lightning Conlon, who is living in a retirement home (and none too happy about it). Adding to the mix is boxing promoter Dante Slate, Jr., whose father not only promoted the last two bouts between Razor and Kid, but who embezzled the gates, leaving Razor and Kid with empty-pockets. Unfortunately, Slate also left his son penniless.
But Dante Jr. is nothing if not industrious and with the same fast-talking charm of his father, convinces Razor and Kid to enter the ring just once more; hit a major payday for all three of them and answer the question once and for all, who’s the better fighter.
Stallone and De Niro are perfection as Razor and The Kid, respectively. GRUDGE MATCH is as much about paying homage to these legends and their legacies as it is to delivering an entertaining film. Both having spent time previously on screen in the ring (Stallone as Rocky Balboa and De Niro as Jake La Motta), not to mention co-starring together in Copland, GRUDGE MATCH goes beyond the current grudge match between Razor and Kid, poking fun at/paying homage to the good-natured grudge match that began between the two actors at the Oscars in 1976 when Stallone and Rocky won Best Picture over De Niro and Taxi Driver. Stallone at age 67 has never looked better and still packs a wallop. Even De Niro at age 70, who trained heavily for this role, has some moves in the ring that rival his quick glibbed dialogue. Each slips easily into character like well worn comfy slippers without making either performance a parody.
Complete with amusing sight gags that are nods to the iconography of the two legends, for Stallone look for more than a few set-ups that harken to several of the films in the Rocky franchise (raw eggs and meat lockers will jump right out at you) while De Niro handily sends up nods to Raging Bull and The Godfather.
But what is most impressive about this Tim Kelleher – Rodney Rothman script is how it embraces the legends that are Stallone and De Niro while finding a perfect meld with Jon Bernthal as BJ, who just now learns that The Kid is his father, and Alan Arkin as Razor’s trainer Lightning, adding a slightly crustier edge to the imagery ingrained in our collective consciousness of Burgess Meredith as Rocky Balboa’s trainer, Mickey. As Dante Slate, Jr., Kevin Hart is just an outright hilarious scene stealer! With his patented lightning patter and histrionics, he is perfection as a motor-mouthed fast talking promoter a la Don King or boxer Muhammad Ali. (And make sure to stay through the credits for some laugh-out-loud hijinks with Hart.) Kim Basinger is a rose among the thorns as the woman between Razor and The Kid. Although her appearance as Sally Rose feels more like a force-fed plot device than organically flowing romance, Basinger delivers a quiet performance that it sweet and engaging. Jon Bernthal has quickly risen in the ranks as man to watch thanks to a strong turn earlier this year in Snitch and currently also in The Wolf of Wall Street. As BJ, Bernthal grounds the film with an honesty and heart that is wonderful to watch unfold as the relationship between BJ and The Kid unfolds (and yes, it will remind you of the Rocky Jr. – Rocky relationship in Rocky Balboa).
No stranger to working with legends, having paired Jack Lemmon and James Garner in My Fellow Americans some years back as former presidents who are less than friends, director Peter Segal now pairs up a few more legends with Stallone, De Niro and Arkin, the latter of whom had never worked nor met with either Stallone or De Niro despite some 50 years in the business.
For Segal, GRUDGE MATCH is a dream come true, particularly when it comes to the ultimate fight on “Grudgement Day” as he called on none other than Stallone to choreograph the fight together with Robert Sale, the film’s boxing consultant who worked with Stallone on all of the Rocky films. Calling Stallone, “the best fight choreographer in the business”, I have to agree and watching the ultimate bout between Stallone and De Niro is nothing short of magic. Thanks to cinematographer Dean Semler and his implementing 7 cameras, plus employing some HBO sports cameramen to help with the lensing, not to mention sportscaster Jim Lampley, UFC announcer Mike Goldberg and the HBO sports team commentators, the result is a beyond realistic bout with Stallone and De Niro doing all their own boxing and throwing real punches. NOTE: No stunt doubles are used in the fight sequences. It’s all Stallone and De Niro.
One of the most comedic threads of the film incorporates new technology and social media with Stallone and De Niro suited up in character in functioning green spandex motion capture suits for the purpose of creating a video game. Unfortunately, fists start flying a bit early, resulting in a rabid and raucous impromptu bout captured on the smartphones of every one in the production studio and quickly going viral. The resulting imagery plays comedically well, quietly melding the generational changes with a welcome freshness.
Not to be missed is the exquisite boxing attire adorning Robert De Niro. Already wearing 8 ounce boxing gloves which Stallone had custom designed to allow De Niro to throw full on punches and not “fake it” for fear of hurting Stallone or himself, the piece de resistance is the clothing. With Stallone and De Niro heavily involved in the design of the boxing attire (proper proportion of waist band and leg width and inseam is crucial), costume designer Mary Vogt arrived at the classic Muhammad Ali white silk trunks and robe edged in black for Razor and a dazzling emerald green silk robe and trunks trimmed in black for The Kid. Adding sparkle to the ostentatious Kid is a signature four-lead clover emblazoned with over 5,000 hand-beaded emerald green Swarovski crystals.
GRUDGE MATCH pulls no punches. A trip down memory lane for many of us, a fun-filled often tongue-in-cheek nod to cinema legends, it wins every round. Ding, Ding!
Directed by Peter Segal
Written by Tim Kelleher and Rodney Rothman
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Kevin Hart, Alan Arkin, Kim Basinger, Jon Bernthal
