This trailer for GRUDGE MATCH is the best we've got

I’d kind of forgotten about Grudge Match, a film that pits ageing Hollywood stars Sly Stallone and Robert De Niro against one another as ageing boxers. Because they’re old. Oooooooooold. So old. Like all the old age jokes that are present in this first trailer for the film as Rocky Balboa takes on Jake LaMotta.

The story revolves around retired boxers Billy “The Kid” McDonnen and Henry “Razor” Sharp, lifelong bitter rivals who are coaxed out of retirement and into the ring for one final grudge match — 30 years after their last title fight.

It doesn’t look too bad to be honest. It’s a decent set-up, and if the pensioner jokes can be reigned in, it looks like this is a film which could have some real heart. That being said, sub-plots with too much drama could make for an uneven movie. Stallone is playing a different kind of boxer this time, not a schlub like he did in Balboa, while De Niro is playing…De Niro I guess. But it’s the little confrontations between Alan Arkin and Kevin Hart that I think will really steal the show in this film.

Anyway, the film has a holiday season release, with Peter “Get Smart” Segel directing.

Last Updated: September 13, 2013