Movie · 1980 · Drama, History · 2h 9m · R · English
Curator score: 9.3/10 (947.5K ratings)
I don’t go down for nobody.
Overview
The life of boxer Jake LaMotta, whose violence and temper that led him to the top in the ring destroyed his life outside of it.
Ratings
Curator score: 9.3/10
IMDb: 8.1/10
Letterboxd: 4.22/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
Metacritic: 90
TMDB: 7.9/10
Director
Martin Scorsese
Production
United Artists, Winkler Films
Cast
Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent, Nicholas Colasanto, Theresa Saldana, Mario Gallo, Frank Adonis, Joseph Bono, Frank Topham, Lori Anne Flax, Charles Scorsese, Don Dunphy, Bill Hanrahan, Rita Bennett, James V. Christy, Bernie Allen, Floyd Anderson, Gene LeBell, Harold Valan
Where to watch
fuboTV, MGM Plus, Philo
Curator Review
Verdict
A brutal, formally dazzling character study that turns a boxing biopic into a study of self-destruction, jealousy, and masculine insecurity. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s one of Scorsese’s most controlled and devastating films.
Best for
Viewers who like intense psychological dramas
Fans of boxing films that care more about character than sports
People drawn to bold black-and-white cinematography and precise editing
Anyone interested in toxic masculinity, guilt, and self-sabotage
Skip if
You want an uplifting underdog story
You prefer fast-moving plots with clear emotional comfort
You’re not in the mood for violence, cruelty, or emotional abrasion
You dislike films that are more punishing than cathartic
Overview
Raging Bull is less a sports movie than a self-portrait of a man who can only understand love, respect, and fear through domination. Jake LaMotta is monstrous, needy, funny, pathetic, and terrifying, and the film refuses to soften any of it. That refusal is what gives it its power: every blow in the ring feels like an extension of the damage happening at home and in his own head.
Worth noting
The craftsmanship is extraordinary. The black-and-white photography gives the film a bruised, mythic texture, while the editing and sound design make the fights feel both balletic and nauseating. Scorsese doesn’t just stage violence; he turns it into psychology, memory, and punishment.
Bottom line
What lingers most is the film’s emotional ugliness and its strange sadness. It’s about a man who can’t stop proving himself, even when the only thing left to prove is how completely he has ruined his life. That makes it hard to love in a conventional sense, but impossible to dismiss.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Rida (5★) · 10751 likes
The most frightening thing about Jake LaMotta isn’t his rage. It’s that look in his eyes when he’s caught onto something, when he thinks he has somebody cornered. He latches on to a sentence, or a phrase, and then he repeats it over and over until it starts to take on a different meaning for everybody in the room. He makes himself believe things that aren’t true, perhaps because he wants these things to be true, because he wants to… more The most frightening thing about Jake LaMotta isn’t his rage. It’s that look in his eyes when he’s caught onto something, when he thinks he has somebody cornered. He latches on to a sentence, or a phrase, and then he repeats it over and over until it starts to take on a different meaning for everybody in the room. He makes himself believe things that aren’t true, perhaps because he wants these things to be true, because he wants to… more
Travis (3★) · 6574 likes
Do you think Scorsese and DeNiro have kissed
Sean Fennessey (5★) · 4391 likes
What a sunbeam of positivity and hope.
kailey (4★) · 3595 likes
how i imagine every conversation went between martin scorsese and robert de niro when it was time to make their new movie, circa 1973-1995
marty: hey bob
robert: hey
marty: so, how would you like to play the worst man of all time? just like, the worst man to ever exist?
robert *tearing up*: oh man, you just get me as a creator and an actor, don't you?
(i really liked this, btw.)
maria (4.5★) · 3396 likes
not to be that filmbro bitch but this film was an experience and it changed me