February 4th, 2004Basically, this film was a disappointment.
I probably expected too much from it, but hey, it is #57 on the IMDb list as of right now. Yes, Scorsese did some interesting things with this movie, but overall I just felt it was, well...not all that special. I did love the black and white photography. That was a nice touch and you don't see enough of it these days. The editing was pretty slick too. As for all the brutal violence, maybe it was daring in its day, but nowadays there are plenty of movies that are much more raw and unflinching.
The whole problem with Raging Bull for me was that I didn't care what happened in the movie. I had nothing invested in it. I didn't care what the outcome was. The reason was because of the main character, Jake La Motta. De Niro's performance in the role was great; he did a really good job of being an asshole. Because of that I had a really hard time sympathizing with the character and therefore didn't really care what happened to him--he had it coming. I think in most movies, a character like La Motta would be considered a "bad guy". I guess he probably is in this one too, but in that case, who exactly is the protagonist?
Alright well now since I've reamed Raging Bull, I might as well say this too: not only is this movie overrated, but Scorsese himself is overrated too. A lot people will probably disagree with me on this, I know. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's bad or anything. I just hear so many people praise him all the time, and I don't quite feel the same way. I've heard people call him "America's Greatest Modern Director", and I think that is a huge stretch. He's good, not incredible though. There are plenty of other directors out there who are just as good if not better. Anyway, enough about that for now.
My rating: 6/10