Classic DVD - Raging Bull

Voted number 24 on AFI's list of 100 best films ever, voted number 68 on IMDB's top 250 list, and Ebert gives it four stars. So how good is this movie? Not as good as it's made out to be. I know, I'm committing cinema blasphemy here, but let me explain. The movie has many, many good qualities, but only if broken down into parts. The cinematography is marvelous. Scorsese fills his frames and uses everything to tell the story. The performances by De Niro and Pesci are awe inspiring (I actually loved Pesci in this movie) but the execution of the story lacks any knock out punch. (pun intended) While it is an interesting story about a man's self destruction, I feel that it could have been told with more effectiveness. For example, other than the fight scene with his first wife, the first 30 minutes of the movie is very arbitrary. We see these fights that we have no idea about. We don't know what they mean to Jake, if anything. Speaking of the character, one of the most important qualities a good story must have, is that it makes us feel compassion or concern for the main character. I didn't have any compassion for Jake. He was an a**hole, a jerk. I always hope the next time I watch it, his brother will beat the crap out of him. So we have a meandering story with a character I don't care about. Finally, this movie was released in 1980, but has the pacing of a movie from the 1940s. It makes Citizen Kane look like Die Hard. Now don't get me wrong I actually really like this movie. But, only after I watched it two or three times. Sure, a good movie gets better after each viewing and you pick more up each time. BUT, normally you WANT to watch a good movie more than once. I'm not sure if this movie wasn't so "praised" I would have given it a second chance. This movie is definitely worth seeing, but only if you a student of films or a die hard film fan. I think your average movie fan (and there is nothing wrong with that) would be disappointed after seeing this movie especially if they saw it knowing that it's had so much acclaim and praise.

So the question is, do you agree or disagree?