Grudge Match

Grudge Match

Rating 6.5 out of 10

Lots of movies being released this Christmas day.  The only one that could be considered "family friendly" and take the wife to is Grudge Match. Anyone that has watched tv in the past month or so has seen the many commercials running showing the aging Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro in a boxing rematch from a fight years ago.

Thirty years ago Henry "Razor" Sharp (Stallone) and Billy "The Kid" McDonald (De Niro) are the elite of the light heavyweight boxing world.  In their first fight The Kid wins a close one.  In the second fight Razor knocks him out in the forth round in a blowout.   Before a third and deciding bout can be fought Razor up and retires.  This drives McDonald crazy as he has no chance to defend his honor.

As the years go by Razor works in a low paying job at the Pittsburg steel mill as McDonald goes on to riches and is doing well.  When a 30 year anniversary of their last fight spikes interest they are offered $100,000 for a last rematch.  Razor begrudgingly agrees as he needs the money.  McDonald sees it as a way to finally regain his honor.

While the movie is most definitely a paint by the numbers simplistic movie it has a fair amount of laughs and entertainment.  The co-stars Alan Arkin and Kevin Hart steal the show. Both are very funny.  We get plenty of AARP jokes and Stallone pokes fun at his Rocky alias.  When it gets to the final showdown the fight for me was a little creepy with really old guys punching the crap out of each other.  Ultimately the movie wraps up quite nicely.

Over all the movie is harmless and I was entertained.  The wife liked it much more than I did. I think I would have liked it more had I not seen most of the funny parts a hundred times in the commercials before viewing.  Make sure to stay for the parts after the closing credits.  Some of the funniest parts are there.