IL GRANDE MATCH: I DUE EX PUGILI, RIVALI DA SEMPRE, SYLVESTR STALLONE E ROBERT DE NIRO, DECIDONO DI SFIDARSI IN UN ULTIMO EPICO SCONTRO... NELLA COMMEDIA DI PETER SEGAL. NEL CAST ANCHE KIM BASINGER
RECENSIONE ITALIANA e PREVIEW in ENGLISH by ANDREW BARKER (www.variety.com) - Dal 9 GENNAIO
(Grudge Match; USA 2013; Commedia; 113'; Produz.: Callahan Filmworks, Gerber Pictures e Warner Bros; Distribuz.: Warner Bros. Pictures Italia)
Sceneggiatura:
Tim Kelleher, Doug Ellin e Rodney Rothman
Cast: Sylvester Stallone (Henry 'Razor' Sharp) Robert De Niro (Billy 'The Kid' McDonnen) Jon Bernthal (B.J.) Kim Basinger (Sally Rose) Kevin Hart (Dante Slate, Jr.) Corrina Roshea (Bella donna) Alan Arkin (Lightning) Starlette Miariaunii (Studentessa del College) Steffie Grote (Bella donna) Paul Ben-Victor (Lou Camare) Nicole Andrews (Carla) Han Soto (Kenji) Griff Furst (Dr. Morgan) Mykel Shannon Jenkins (Shmoo) Kurt Krause (Ragazzo del College)
Musica: Trevor Rabin
Costumi: Mary E. Vogt
Scenografia: Wynn Thomas
Fotografia: Dean Semler
Montaggio: William Kerr
Effetti Speciali: John S. Baker (supervisore effetti speciali); Bruce Jones e Helena Packer (supervisori effetti visivi)
UNA VITTORIA CONDIVISA 'IL GRANDE MATCH' TRA STALLONE E DE NIRO, TRA AUTOIRONIA E UMORISMO DA BAR CHE PUR VALE UNA SOSTA
Devo dire che certi 'arricciamenti di naso' nei confronti di questo 'grande match del rancore' ('The Grudgement Day') proprio non li capisco. Se il titolo italiano Il grande match rende l'idea, l'originale americano Grudge Match punta, senza sminuirne la portata, al reale spessore accordato sull'annosa rivalitĂ dei due protagonisti ex campioni di boxe, condita con un ingombrante rancore personale in punta di 'love-affair'. E guardate che se, secondo la mia modesta opinione, questo film risulta amabile e divertente, per quanto non certo privo di difetti, non Ăš tanto merito di una regia diligente (il Peter Segal di 50 volte il primo bacio, Terapia d'urto) che si limita ad aprire e chiudere con un certo garbo le cortine dello spettacolo, quanto della piena conduzione (Stallone-De Niro) lasciata di buon grado
alla piĂč improbabile delle coppie di ex campioni di boxe che la celluloide annoveri nei propri annali. Quel genere di campioni che allo scoccare di un Anniversario, per quanto trentennale, fa ancora notizia, tanto che i reportage televisivi si sprecano trasmettendo retrospettive tanto storiche da richiamare all'appello dell'attualitĂ spezzoni in bianco e nero. E fanno ancor piĂč notizia soprattutto quando sono rimasti in sospeso i conti di uno spareggio mai andato in onda per motivi rimasti ignoti all'opinione pubblica. Sono questi i contorni di una vicenda oscurata dalla privacy di Henry 'Razor' Sharp (Sylvester Stallone) che, inspiegabilmente, proprio quando era sulla cresta dell'onda del successo molla il ring per tornarsene in fabbrica, e di Billy 'The Kid' McDonnen (Robert De Niro) che, di conseguenza, non solo non ha mai ottenuto dall'acerrimo rivale la rivincita, o spareggio che dir si voglia, ma, finita prematuramente la carriera, si Ăš visto costretto a
sbarcare il lunario convertendosi nello show business in un piccolo locale.
noi? A Stallone Ăš sufficiente strascicarsi sui binari della mole provata piĂč da un quotidiano tosto che dai trascorsi professionali del suo personaggio, intercalando qualche battutaccia con qualche gancio ben assestato, per favorire il 'gioco di squadra della commedia' condotto con vivace partecipazione verbale, prima ancora che sui dati di fatto, da De Niro tradotto nel logorroico 'The Kid'. Una commedia questa, che non rinuncia allo sguardo traslucido fatto delle modeste risorse economiche ereditate da professionisti dello sport alla luce dei riflettori spenti da tanto tempo, quando la vecchiaia avanza, mentre valori e ideali restano immutati.
Secondo commento critico (a cura di ANDREW BARKER, www.variety.com)
Essentially recasting 'Grumpy Old Men' with Rocky Balboa and Jake LaMotta, this Stallone-De Niro vehicle is sporadically amusing if overcooked.
Having finally sated â80s action buffs with an Arnold Schwarzenegger co-starring vehicle (this yearâs better-than-it-had-to-be âEscape Planâ), Sylvester Stallone returns to the well of fan fiction by teaming with his onetime iconic-onscreen-pugilist rival, Robert De Niro, in âGrudge Match.â Essentially recasting âGrumpy Old Menâ with the senescent specters of Rocky Balboa and Jake LaMotta, the result is sporadically amusing, with some chucklesome sight gags and crowdpleasing supporting turns from Alan Arkin and Kevin Hart, yet itâs all so overcooked that it defeats its own purpose. This Warner Bros. release should land some punches, though not a knockout blow, in the Christmas B.O. frame.
In his 2011 book âRetromania,â British music critic Simon Reynolds lamented popâs Internet Age obsession with nostalgia for the very recent past, noting that in modern culture, âhistory
must have a dustbin, or else history will be a dustbin.â Hollywood is hardly a stranger to this dilemma, frequently rummaging through its own creative dumpster for neverending sequels and remakes, but the latter-day careers of Stallone and De Niro are special cases indeed, with the two stars â 67 and 70, respectively â essaying a series of roles that are not only informed by, but practically senseless without, knowledge of their filmographies. This tendency toward lazily coasting on familiarity hits a pinnacle for both in âGrudge Match,â where the meta-stunt casting is far funnier in theory than in execution.
As a Jim Lampley-narrated mini-docu informs us at the outset, Henry âRazorâ Sharp (Stallone) and Billy âthe Kidâ McDonnen (De Niro) were once the fiercest rivals in boxing, with McDonnen beating Sharp in a classic bout, and Sharp taking the spoils against an out-of-shape McDonnen in the rematch. A third, score-settling
grudge match was scheduled to take place 30 years ago, but Sharp abruptly retired from boxing shortly before the opening bell.
Since then, the soft-spoken Sharp has retreated into life as a foundry-floor factotum in the scrappier outskirts of Pittsburgh, while the peacocking McDonnen has parlayed his waning fame into a chain of steakhouses and car dealerships. In need of money to keep his aging trainer (Arkin) in a nursing home, Sharp agrees to throw some punches in a motion-capture suit for a videogame, leading to a confrontation with the similarly green-suited McDonnen in the studio. A ludicrous brawl breaks out between the two, and camera-phone footage of the punch-up goes viral.
Sensing an opportunity, fast-talking aspiring fight promoter Dante Slate Jr. (Hart) convinces the two paunchy punchers to finally reschedule their âGrudgement Dayâ bout, a televised spectacle that falls somewhere between âCelebrity Boxingâ and Ali vs. Inoki on the dignity scale.
Ostentatious
callbacks to âRockyâ and âRaging Bullâ take the form of Stallone quaffing raw eggs and strolling through a meat locker, while DeNiro performs a chintzy nightclub comedy act. MPAA concerns likely kiboshed a reprisal of âBullâsâ fabled âYou fuck my wife?â exchange, though it wouldnât have taken much to shoehorn it in. As it turns out, Sharpâs abrupt retirement was sparked by McDonnenâs dalliances with his then-girlfriend (Kim Basinger), who abruptly reappears on the scene three decades later precisely as McDonnenâs estranged son, B.J. (Jon Bernthal), emerges to connect with his old man, quickly becoming his trainer.
The rest of the film (directed by Peter Segal from a script by Tim Kelleher and Rodney Rothman) ambles forward with a series of training montages interrupted by old-man-falls-down slapstick interrupted by sappy drama, with hit-and-miss setpieces occasionally compensating for the picâs dreary lack of narrative propulsion. Considering how much of âRocky Vâ and
âRocky Balboaâ focused on the inherent sadness of an aged fighter enduring yet more punishment, âGrudge Matchâ is quite glib about the potentially fatal fight at its center, while it rarely passes up an opportunity to slather on pathos elsewhere via a cherubic little kid (Camden Gray) and images of laid-off industrial workers.
Compared with De Niroâs shticky role in this yearâs âThe Familyâ â in which his Jersey mobster character actually attends a screening of âGoodfellasâ â the actor has a few moments of spark playing the more unsavory of the two leads, while Stallone mostly muddles through. (Both men, it must be said, are in quite impressive shape by the filmâs final reel.) Arkin and Hart strike the same ornery-old-cuss/loudmouthed-little-man notes theyâve hit a dozen times before, though theyâre good enough for quick laughs, and Hartâs end-credits attempt to stage yet another retirement-age grudge match proves the funniest moment
in the whole endeavor.
Technical contributions are largely workmanlike, although the climactic battle is sloppily staged, and there are several shots in which Stalloneâs face seems to be lit from an entirely different source as the rest of the scene, perhaps suggesting some rushed CG touch-ups in post.