Raging Bull

Raging Bull was okay. The opening credits weren't aligned with the boxing ring ropes, grrr. A lot of the dialogue seemed pointless, I felt like it didn't develop the characters much nor move the plot forward. LaMotta sits around with people and talks a lot, but it doesn't fleshen out anybody, it just reaffirmed what you already knew. Unfortunately, none of the characters were particularly sympathetic either. LaMotta himself is completely loathsome and his entire personality can be summed up as "jealous and violent". I'm not saying you have to make characters likeable or anything, but if you're going to do a character study, shouldn't your character be a complex realistic human being? Shouldn't they be intriguing and multidimensional? Otherwise why else should I care what happens at all? Though DeNiro no doubt gives a great performance, ultimately I'm not interested in what happens to his character nor any of the relationships he has with others.

Impecibly directed and thoroughly enthralling, yet tragic, character study, with an engaging screenplay and amazing performances.