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Grudge Match (12A)

Comedy, Sport

A pair of aging boxing rivals are coaxed out of retirement to fight one final bout -- 30 years after their last match.


The critical consensus

The jokes are mostly cheap ones about Ageing Bulls.

***(*)(*)Siobhan Synnot, The Scotsman, 19/01/2014

The screenplay is as sclerotic and slow moving as its two punch drunk leads.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Geoffrey MacNab, The Independent, 23/01/2014

An idea that must have sounded good on paper looks a lot less smart on the screen.

**(*)(*)(*)Nick de Semlyen, Empire Online

It’s not a travesty but it lacks suspense. You don’t care who wins, perhaps because neither Stallone nor DeNiro wanted to play the bad guy.

***(*)(*)Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express, 22/01/2014

Not even saved by the bell.

Brian Viner, Daily Mail, 24/01/2014

The Disagreement at the Duck Pond.

Adam Woodward, Little White Lies, 23/01/2014

Rather than getting us on the ropes and landing some telling blows, Grudge Match keeps its distance and tosses meek jabs. Cheap sentimentality can’t disguise the crashing cynicism on display.

**(*)(*)(*)Curtis Woloschuk, Total Film, 20/01/2014

Stallone and De Niro go head to head in this flawed but worthwhile boxing picture.

***(*)(*)Rob Carnevale, The List, 24/01/2014

In the end, the sight of a couple of past-it prizefighters slugging it out for a big payday becomes a potent symbol of each stars’ motivation for making the film.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 25/01/2014

The implied equivalence between the two films is infuriating.

*(*)(*)(*)(*)Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 23/01/2014

Time to throw in the towel.

**(*)(*)(*)Mark Kermode, The Observer, 26/01/2014


Features about Grudge Match (12A)

Sylvester Stallone: Robert De Niro persuaded me to get back in the ring

Tom Teodorczuk, The Independent, 17/01/2014

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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