Grudge Match (2013)

A pair of aging boxing rivals are coaxed out of retirement to fight one final bout, thirty years after their last match.

Director:

Peter Segal

Writers:

Tim Kelleher (screenplay), Rodney Rothman (screenplay)

Stars:

Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Kim Basinger

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Lampley	...	Jim Lampley
Sylvester Stallone	...	Henry 'Razor' Sharp
Robert De Niro	...	Billy 'The Kid' McDonnen
Rich Little	...	Boxing Announcer (voice)
Ireland Baldwin	...	Young Sally (as Ireland Basinger Baldwin)
Anthony Bean	...	Dante Slate, Sr.
Mason Mackie	...	Young Dante
Kevin Hart	...	Dante Slate, Jr.
Barry Primus	...	Joey the Bartender
Oscar Gale	...	Shipyard Co-Worker
Frederick Douglas Plunkett Jr.	...	Walter
BJ Guyer	...	Jabby the Puppet
Jen Kober	...	Tough Female Customer
Anthony Anderson	...	Mr. Sandpaper Hands
Carrie Lazar	...	Nora

Storyline

Henry "Razor" Sharp and Billy "The Kid" McDonnen are two boxers who thirty years ago were rivals. Just before a big match Razor decides to retire because Billy slept with his girlfriend, Sally Rose and got her pregnant. Today a promoter, Dante Slate wants to have them fight each other but Razor doesn't want to. But when he loses his job and learns he's broke, he has no choice. So he trains under his old trainer. Billy while training, meets B.J., the son he had with Sally Rose and he asks B.J. to train him. And Sally Rose tries to get Razor to forgive her but he can't.

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Plot Keywords:

woman | father son relationship | car | automobile | honda | 

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Taglines:

A rivalry 30 years in the making.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sports action violence, sexual content and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Grudge Match

Filming Locations:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,021,993, 29 December 2013

Gross USA:

$29,807,260

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$44,907,260

Company Credits

Production Co:

Callahan Filmworks, Gerber Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although Rich Little is billed as simply 'Boxing Announcer', he is clearly imitating iconic sportscaster Howard Cosell and his famous "Down goes Frazier!" call from the Joe Frazier-George Foreman fight.

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Goofs

The first time you see the viral footage shown of Razor and the Kid fighting for the video game is from the actual phone used. You can clearly see the crew filming the scene including cameraman and boom guy.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jim Lampley: Hello again, everybody, I'm Jim Lampley. Certain athletes are born enemies. Bird and Magic. Ali and Frazier. Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. But the fiercest rivalry was be between two fighters from Pittsburgh with the names Razor and Kid.

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Crazy Credits

There are two scenes in the closing credits: Razor, Lightning and Slate watch Kid perform on Dancing with the Stars (2005), and later Slate arranges a rematch between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.

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Connections

Referenced in ABC News Nightline: Episode dated 18 December 2013 (2013)

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Soundtracks

Back In Black
Written by Brian Johnson, Angus Young and Malcolm Young
Performed by AC/DC
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Typical competitive sport thing, age 60

The movie was exactly what I expected, perhaps with the exception of Kim Basinger who looks smoking hot at an age when most women need hearing aids and false teeth. You have these two old boxers who have had a grudge for 30 years, since they had to fight each other, but the fight was canceled. The film is all about they getting over it via a box match. The fact that they did that after 30 years (time in which neither really had a life) makes it spicier, but basically, that's just the sprinkling on the cake.

I can't say that I got inspired by the movie or anything, but it felt more real than many of the genre, probably because of all the history of the characters making them deeper, meatier. Most movies of this kind use cardboard roles that mean nothing to anyone, like the obe played by Kevin Hart. Even Kim Basinger's role was a typical cliché, the woman that has always loved a man, waiting for him no matter how boneheaded he is.

Bottom line: aside the old actors, this was a typical sports match thing. They train, they say their piece, they fight. Also, except some marketing lines about iPads and some "going viral" lines, this could have just as well been a 70's movie. Robert de Niro was a strange casting for a boxer, but he finally played a role I liked him in since... forever. And Sly Stallone brings a lot more melancholy in this film than in any of the Expendables.