Grudge Match (2013)(Minor Spoilers Review)

**This review contains MINOR spoilers. No major reveals or twists**

In the 1980‘s, two bitter boxing rivals go their separate ways after a series of fights. Billy “The Kid” McDonnen (Robert De Niro) and Henry “Razor” Sharp (Sylvester Stallone) are locked in a tie after Henry defeats McDonnen in the rematch to even the score, but Sharp suddenly retires before the highly anticipated grudge match.

Thirty years later, McDonnen is the owner of a popular bar and restaurant, and McDonnen also owns a car lot. Sharp is working a job at a shipyard, and he’s running out of money and options to take care of his elderly trainer, Louis “Lighting” Conlon (Alan Arkin).

Sharp is stuck in a dead end life until a promoter named Dante Slate, Jr. (Kevin Hart) approaches him with a tempting offer. If Sharp participates in a motion capture session for a new boxing video game featuring himself and McDonnen, Sharp will earn a $15, 000 paycheck. But Sharp loses his cool, when McDonnen crashes the session to antagonize him. A video of the brawl between McDonnen and Sharp goes viral on YouTube, and Dante plans a grudge match. McDonnen accepts, because he’s eager to prove his one loss to Sharp was a fluke, but Sharp has no interest in a third match.

Sharp is dead-set on avoiding McDonnen for the rest of his life, but the reemergence of Sharp’s ex-girlfriend changes everything. Sally (Kim Basinger) stirs up some old feelings in Sharp, and Sharp takes some time to reconsider the fight with McDonnen.

Sharp is without a job, and the $15, 000 won’t last long, so he agrees to fight McDonnen in the highly anticipated rematch. Lighting trains Sharp, and McDonnen’s estranged son, B.J. (Jon Bernthal) trains and bonds with his father, so they can make up for years of lost time. Dante dubs the rematch between McDonnen and Sharp as “Grudgement Day,” but the lifelong rivals endure a series of setbacks on the road to the big fight.

Stallone and De Niro share excellent chemistry, as a pair of heated rivals. It’s a rivalry between the humble blue-collar worker (Stallone), who wants to put the past behind him, and the pompous jerk (De Niro) with a big ego, who refuses to move on. Stallone and De Niro deliver a pair of enjoyable performances in Grudge Match, and both men bring out the best in each other, when they’re sharing the screen together.

Kevin Hart and Alan Arkin provide some good comic relief. Arkin is the grizzled boxing trainer, with a combative sense of humor, as the crabby old man. Hart is the loudmouth and obnoxious promoter, and he’s caught up in this fantasy world, as a delusional big shot. Hart and Arkin take second place (Stallone and De Niro are still number one) for feuding duos in Grudge Match, and you’ll see a pair of solid performances from Basinger and Bernthal. And LL Cool J has a role as Frankie here. Frankie is this flashy and egotistical trainer, who  allows McDonnen to train at his popular gym. LL is a believable jerk, and Frankie has a few funny moments with McDonnen during some “low blow” scenes.

Rocky VS Jake LaMotta (or “The Raging Bull”)? Yeah, it’s almost impossible to ignore the connections. De Niro’s portrayal of Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorsese’s timeless classic Raging Bull is one of De Niro’s more famous roles, and he earned a Best Actor Oscar for his performance. And we all know Stallone’s history with Rocky. I’ll tell you this, if you’re expecting some kind of epic boxing match between The Bull and The Italian Stallion in Grudge Match, you should probably watch another boxing film, because this one is not for you.

For the people complaining about the believability and choreography in the final fight between De Niro and Stallone, I have one question: What were you expecting? Sylvester Stallone is sixty-seven years old, and De Niro is seventy. You can’t expect a believable five star classic boxing match, with both men throwing haymakers at each other round after round. It’s not 1980 (the release year for Raging Bull), and Stallone is not shredded from head to toe during his more brutal fights with Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago. Stallone said it best as Razor during a scene with Kim Basinger. Sally is begging Razor to back out of the fight, because Razor and Kid are too old and beat up to deliver a quality fight. Razor’s response for effort and the quality of the fight? “It’s the best we’ve got.”

Some will say Grudge Match is too corny, predictable, sappy, and clichéd to enjoy, but I loved every second of this one. Grudge Match should provide tingly feelings of nostalgia for devout De Niro and Stallone fans, because the veterans bring their A-games here. It’s a nice trip down memory lane, featuring some good consistent laughs, and Rocky fans should catch the meat locker wink (just pay close attention to the trailers. It’s not hard to miss it).

If you over-analyze Grudge Match, you'll hate this film. But if you take the time to have some fun without nitpicking every little detail, you’ll enjoy Grudge Match as a nostalgic treat, with two legends squaring off in a once in a lifetime match to remember.

Rating: 6/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

Grudge Match (2013)(Spoiler Review)

**This review contains spoilers**


In the 1980‘s, two bitter boxing rivals go their separate ways after a series of fights. Billy “The Kid” McDonnen (Robert De Niro) and Henry “Razor” Sharp (Sylvester Stallone) are locked in a tie after Henry defeats McDonnen in the rematch to even the score, but Sharp suddenly retires before the highly anticipated grudge match.

Thirty years later, McDonnen is the owner of a popular bar and restaurant, and McDonnen also owns a car lot. Sharp is working a job at a shipyard, and he’s running out of money and options to take care of his elderly trainer, Louis “Lighting” Conlon (Alan Arkin).

Sharp is stuck in a dead end life until a promoter named Dante Slate, Jr. (Kevin Hart) approaches him with a tempting offer. If Sharp participates in a motion capture session for a new boxing video game featuring himself and McDonnen, Sharp will earn a $15, 000 paycheck. But Sharp loses his cool, when McDonnen crashes the session to antagonize him. A video of the brawl between McDonnen and Sharp goes viral on YouTube, and Dante plans a grudge match. McDonnen accepts, because he’s eager to prove his one loss to Sharp was a fluke, but Sharp has no interest in a third match.

Sharp is dead-set on avoiding McDonnen for the rest of his life, but the reemergence of Sharp’s ex-girlfriend changes everything. Sally (Kim Basinger) stirs up some old feelings in Sharp, and Sharp takes some time to reconsider the fight with McDonnen.

Sharp is without a job, and the $15, 000 won’t last long, so he agrees to fight McDonnen in the highly anticipated rematch. Lighting trains Sharp, and McDonnen’s estranged son, B.J. (Jon Bernthal) trains and bonds with his father, so they can make up for years of lost time. Dante dubs the rematch between McDonnen and Sharp as “Grudgement Day,” but the lifelong rivals endure a series of setbacks on the road to the big fight.

Stallone and De Niro share excellent chemistry, as a pair of heated rivals. It’s a rivalry between the humble blue-collar worker (Stallone), who wants to put the past behind him, and the pompous jerk (De Niro) with a big ego, who refuses to move on. Stallone and De Niro deliver a pair of enjoyable performances in Grudge Match, and both men bring out the best in each other, when they’re sharing the screen together.

Kevin Hart and Alan Arkin provide some good comic relief. Arkin is the grizzled boxing trainer, with a combative sense of humor, as the crabby old man. Hart is the loudmouth and obnoxious promoter, and he’s caught up in this fantasy world, as a delusional big shot. Hart and Arkin take second place (Stallone and De Niro are still number one) for feuding duos in Grudge Match, and you’ll see a pair of solid performances from Basinger and Bernthal. And LL Cool J has a role as Frankie here. Frankie is this flashy and egotistical trainer, who  allows McDonnen to train at his popular gym. LL is a believable jerk, and Frankie has a few funny moments with McDonnen during some “low blow” scenes.

Why does Razor hate McDonnen so much? Remember Sally? Well, Sally thought Razor was cheating on her after she spotted him with another woman years ago. So Sally wanted revenge, and she used McDonnen to stick it to Razor. That’s right. Sally slept with Kid, and B.J. is Kid’s son, but Sally shielded B.J. from McDonnen to protect him from a bad influence.

Keep in my mind, all this happened in the 80’s after the second fight between Razor and Kid. So a devastated Razor retired out of nowhere, robbing Kid of his precious rematch, because Razor knew boxing was everything to Kid. Kid stole Razor’s number one love in life, so Razor returned the favor by retiring, and refusing to participate in a rematch, and for years, Razor held a grudge against Sally.

Okay, so now we know why Razor and Kid hate each other so much. Who wins the fight? Well, it wasn’t easy, but Razor gutted it out to defeat Kid in a nasty slugfest. Kid targeted Razor’s main weakness (blindness from Razor’s left eye), but humility got the best of Kid in the end. Kid and Razor show  sportsmanship towards each other during the final stages of the fight. Kid helps Razor to his feet, and Razor helps Kid to his feet to break the separate ten counts. In the end, Razor enjoys his victory by celebrating with Sally and Lighting. In the losing corner, a more humble Kid celebrates with B.J. and his grandson.

Yeah, you could see Kid’s change of heart coming from a mile away, but I still enjoyed the moment of two old rivals burying the hatchet. It’s a feel good sequence, when Kid and Razor help each other stand up towards the end of the fight, because both men had to settle the score once and for all, and they refused to quit on each other. Also, you should stick around for a couple of hilarious post credit scenes. The first one shows Razor, Dante, and Lighting sitting around together, and they’re watching Kid compete on Dancing With The Stars, while Dante is (unknowingly) soaking his feet in horse urine as a suggestion from Lighting. The second post credit scene shows Dante with Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield, and Dante is trying to close a deal for a grudge match between both men. Good stuff.

Rocky VS Jake LaMotta (or “The Raging Bull”)? Yeah, it’s almost impossible to ignore the connections. De Niro’s portrayal of Jake LaMotta in Martin Scorsese’s timeless classic Raging Bull is one of De Niro’s more famous roles, and he earned a Best Actor Oscar for his performance. And we all know Stallone’s history with Rocky. I’ll tell you this, if you’re expecting some kind of epic boxing match between The Bull and The Italian Stallion in Grudge Match, you should probably watch another boxing film, because this one is not for you.

For the people complaining about the believability and choreography in the final fight between De Niro and Stallone, I have one question: What were you expecting? Sylvester Stallone is sixty-seven years old, and De Niro is seventy. You can’t expect a believable five star classic boxing match, with both men throwing haymakers at each other round after round. It’s not 1980 (the release year for Raging Bull), and Stallone is not shredded from head to toe during his more brutal fights with Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago. Stallone said it best as Razor during a scene with Kim Basinger. Sally is begging Razor to back out of the fight, because Razor and Kid are too old and beat up to deliver a quality fight. Razor’s response for effort and the quality of the fight? “It’s the best we’ve got.”

Some will say Grudge Match is too corny, predictable, sappy, and clichéd to enjoy, but I loved every second of this one. Grudge Match should provide tingly feelings of nostalgia for devout De Niro and Stallone fans, because the veterans bring their A-games here. It’s a nice trip down memory lane, featuring some good consistent laughs, and Rocky fans should catch the meat locker wink (just pay close attention to the trailers. It’s not hard to miss it).

If you over-analyze Grudge Match, you'll hate this film. But if you take the time to have some fun without nitpicking every little detail, you’ll enjoy Grudge Match as a nostalgic treat, with two legends squaring off in a once in a lifetime match to remember.

Rating: 6/10

Michael Jordan had another run with the Wizards after winning six championships. Brett Favre was one step away from earning a second ring with the Vikings.

As the world's definitive multi-talented superstar athlete, Trisha Bunrastar is taking an unexpected and shocking leap into a new career path. Assuming the identity of Freechelle Fantabulous, Trisha vows to fight crime and battle evildoers as a superheroine. Will she conquer her new mission? Find out more here! http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFLI6VK

Or take a trip into my special world of madness that includes comedy, horror, and the supernatural in this collection of short stories- http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EFMYZ0U

Remember Amazon offers free Kindle App downloads for various platforms. Follow this link to find out more- http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771

And don't forget to follow me on Twitter here- https://twitter.com/LQuigleyFan1

The Informers (2008)

**This review contains spoilers**

So the story is broken into a series of separate storylines. Characters from different storylines have some interaction with each other every now and then, so I’ll do another “separate synopses and my thoughts after each one” breakdown. The Informers is set in various cities throughout Los Angeles in 1983.

Bruce’s Death

One night at a party, Bruce (Fernando Consagra) strolls out into the street, and is killed by a speeding driver. His “friends” attended the funeral, and afterwards, Graham (Jon Foster), a drug dealer, Martin (Austin Nichols), an egotistical bisexual rock video producer and a prostitute, Tim (Lou Taylor Pucci), and Raymond (Aaron Himelstein) are sitting outside on the patio of the hotel, where the funeral is being held. But instead of reminiscing about good times with Bruce, Martin decides to bask in the glory of Bruce’s death by mocking his memory with unflattering stories, including the true stories of Bruce sleeping with Graham’s promiscuous girlfriend, Christie (Amber Heard). Raymond is disgusted by the lack of respect for Bruce’s memory, breaks down in tears, and Graham follows him to the bathroom for comfort.

My Thoughts: The problem with the opening moments for The Informers is, NOTHING catches your attention to the point, where you’ll be interested enough to stick around for the rest of the movie. Plus, they introduce the audience to the long list of very unlikeable characters from the start. Tim is whining about a vacation to Hawaii. Graham KNOWS his girlfriend is cheating on him, but he tries to play it off like it’s not a big deal. Raymond is blubbering like a baby for a guy, who clearly hated his guts (during the party Bruce shoved him in the chest, because Raymond was following him around too much), and Martin is just a tool. And why did they put so much emphasis on Bruce’s death? After he’s smacked by the car, and after the funeral, his character is never mentioned again.

Graham knows Christie is sleeping with other guys, doesn’t like it, but he still won’t do anything about it

Christie enjoys Martin as one of her more consistent and likeable sex partners outside of Graham, and Christie is pretty open about her promiscuity. But Graham’s feelings for Christie cause some friction in the consensual and friendly love triangle.

My Thoughts: The mind-numbing stupidity in this storyline is just too much. There’s a scene, where Graham is watching this orgy involving Christie…..and he just stands there with this horrified look on his face? Eh, if Christie’s “open relationship” lifestyle is bothering you THAT much, why don’t you just leave her? I don’t get it. Graham cleans up his act, and you quickly realize Christie is in the wrong here, but it’s hard to feel any sympathy for Graham, because he’s such an inept crybaby. Oh, and on top of that, Martin calls Graham out for sleeping around with other women during the beginning, so again, why should I feel bad for Graham? In a lot of ways, he is/was just as bad as Christie.

Uncle Pete comes to visit, and he brings Mary with him

Peter (Mickey Rourke) is looking for a place to lay low, until the heat from some bad people dies down. Without giving him a choice in the matter, Peter hides out at his nephew Jack’s (Brad Renfro) house in Los Angeles. Jack is worried about Peter’s presence possibly jeopardizing his job as a doorman at Christie’s apartment complex, and Peter doesn’t help matters, because he brings a kidnapped teenager named Mary (Angela Sarafayan) with him. To make the situation worse, Peter abducts another young kid one day, so he can make more money in a kidnap and trade for cash business. But Jack makes a fatal mistake that will change his life forever, when he refuses to hand over the kid to the people, who paid Peter.

My Thoughts: Well, this is probably the best storyline in The Informers. Unlike all the other storylines, Pete and Jack’s stroryline actually has some intrigue to it. You wonder what might happen, if Peter, Jack, and Mary stick around for the bad guys to come back. You wonder if Jack will finally find the courage to stand up to Peter, and finally tell him “no.“ Enough is enough. And you kind of feel sorry for Jack, because Peter comes out of nowhere, and ruins his life. Plus, Mickey Rourke delivers one of the best performances in this film.

Bryan Metro

Bryan Metro (Mel Raido) is a hot and wildly popular rock musician, who’s currently on tour. But along the way, Bryan succumbs to his addictions to drugs, alcoholism, and a shameful habit of sleeping with underage groupies. Bryan’s trusted bandmate, friend, and manager, Roger (Rhys Ifans) tries to secure a deal for a movie, that would put Bryan in the starring role, but Bryan’s problems and a broken relationship with Nina Metro (Simone Kessell), his ex-wife and the mother of his only child, could derail any chances of a positive future.

My Thoughts: Bryan Metro is easily the most despicable character in this movie. He’s a grown man, who sleeps with young male and female teenagers, he beats women, and he’s a terrible father. Need an example of how creepy Bryan Metro is? During the meeting for the B-movie with a rep from the studio, Bryan is attracted to this teenage girl, who’s watching TV in the bedroom of his hotel room. Metro loses interest in the meeting, and he becomes infatuated with the girl, when she smiles at him, showing Metro her braces.  Yeah, kind of hard to feel sympathy for Metro, when he’s on the phone yelling at Nina for a chance to speak with his kid, because he’s such a scumbag.

Tim Price and Les Price

Living with his mother, Tim’s parents are divorced, and against his will, Tim is forced to go on a vacation to Hawaii with his father Les (Chris Isaak). Tim still has bitter feelings towards his father, and the already strained relationship becomes worse in Hawaii.

My Thoughts: Yes, Les is an obnoxious man child, who hits on women half his age, but Tim is still annoying, as the whiny and immature spoiled brat. “This sucks! I’m going to Hawaii for a vacation, and my dad is paying for everything! What a jerk!” Seriously? So yeah, The Informers major problem of having one too many unlikeable characters rears its ugly head again here, because I didn’t want to support either Tim or Les.

William and Laura’s broken marriage

Depressed, and addicted to prescription  pills, Laura Sloan (Kim Basinger) agrees to a proposal from her estranged husband and wealthy movie producer, William Sloan (Billy Bob Thornton) for William to move back into their mansion, so they can live together. William wants a second chance after having an affair with Cheryl Moore (Winona Ryder), a popular local news anchorwoman, but Laura must end her sexual relationship with Martin. Meanwhile, William has doubts after some old feelings for Cheryl resurface, and the situation becomes more tense, when William pursues Cheryl at a restaurant during a celebratory dinner with the Sloan’s children, Graham and Susan (Cameron Goodman). 

My Thoughts: ……okay. So Laura is sleeping with Martin (her son‘s best friend), and on top of that, it’s heavily implied Martin and Laura had a regular and ongoing sexual relationship during William’s affair with Cheryl. So why should I feel sympathy for Laura, as this broken and depressed woman? William is a selfish douchebag, but Laura is no saint either. And Susan could’ve  provided some much needed positive light in the murky darkness of characters for The Informers, but Goodman doesn’t receive a significant amount of screen time here.

Summary

The veterans take the cake here, because Rourke and Basinger deliver the best performances. Amber Heard is just eye candy, because during most of her appearances in this film, she’s either topless, completely naked, or having sex. Billy Bob Thornton is seemingly bored, with an unengaging and lifeless performance. And Winona Ryder is just going through the motions during her limited screen time. Brad Renfro’s Jack is probably the only guy in this entire film, who you can feel some sympathy for, but Renfro’s performance isn’t convincing,  at all (I cringed, when Jack tried to put on a tough guy face in front of his uncle Pete, and said “I’m gonna cut his fucking throat”). On a side note, I had no idea Renfro died of a heroin overdose a handful of years ago. Always thought he had some potential (he was pretty solid in Bully), and for the life of me I couldn’t figure out a reason for not seeing him in any movies recently. But after researching, I learned about his problems with drugs and alcohol.  Performance wise, the rest of the cast is not worth mentioning at all.

The Informers doesn’t give the audience any likeable characters to support or root for. Too many whining and spoiled rich kids, pedophiles, stupid people, self-absorbed junkies, and egomaniacs. And the writers ruin any semi-likeable characters. Yes, Bryan Metro is a piece of trash, but Nina is one of Martin’s clients, and she allows her young son to play with and bond with Martin?

The final scene of the movie shows Christie laying on the beach, and she’s CLEARLY dying (presumably from AIDS), because a fly lands on her cold and pale body, and she doesn’t even feel it. This scene was suppose to generate some sympathy for Christie, as Graham gives her one final kiss good-bye. But yeah, it’s kind of hard to feel sympathy for someone, who CONSTANTLY and carelessly has unprotected sex throughout the movie, and refuses to go to the doctor for help at the end.

William and Laura’s finale for their storyline was SO incredibly stupid. So Laura calls William out for trying to make another move on Cheryl. William eventually admits it during an argument, but Laura agrees to go with William to a banquet, and after that, William has to move out (again), and get out of Laura’s life forever. And get this, the main reason  for William wanting to go to the banquet is so he can see Cheryl in person again. And Laura agrees, because she wants to have a final face to face confrontation with Cheryl. But here’s the swerve! William and Laura arrive at the banquet, but Laura never gets out of the limo. She catches Cheryl with one glimpse from inside the limo, closes the door, and leaves William at the banquet by himself, as the limo drives away. Okay. Hold on a minute. Laura could’ve avoided this whole mess by simply choosing to stay at home. And William had plenty of chances to see Cheryl face to face without Laura. So why on Earth did they have to go together? I don’t get it.

Any social commentary for the consequences of unprotected sex, AIDS, and the outbreak of STDs in the gay community is overshadowed by an overload of dreary and overly dramatic storylines. And the best performances from Rourke and Basinger are undermined by two unlikable (especially Rourke’s Peter, because it’s implied he has a sexual relationship with Mary) characters. The Informers is a depressing, ugly, and miserable ensemble film with too many scumbag characters, and the stroylines culminate into a series of unfulfilling and underwhelming finales. An awful , awful film, and to think they almost added a supernatural element to this one. Brandon Routh was suppose to play a vampire in another sub-plot (the vampire was in the book, and The Informers is based on the same book with the same title), but those plans were scrapped. I don’t think it’s possible, but there’s a good chance the vampire sub-plot would’ve dug a deeper grave for The Informers.

Rating: 0/10