Raging Bull (1980)

Raging Bull asks you to spend over two hours with a man you’d never want at your dinner table, and it has zero interest in making you like him. That’s the hard part, and some viewers tap out. Robert De Niro plays Jake LaMotta as a fighter who only knows how to take punishment and hand it out, and his jealousy turns on his wife and his brother in ways the film shows plainly, without dressing it up. Inside the ring, Martin Scorsese does something nobody has matched. Every fight is a black and white blur of popping flashbulbs, slow motion and sudden silence, so every bout feels like it’s happening inside Jake’s head. Joe Pesci as Joey is the closest thing the film has to a heartbeat, and Cathy Moriarty holds her own against both of them. The later scenes are lonely and strange. A 9.0 because it’s brutal, beautiful and honest about a man who can’t stop fighting everyone. $187 says you replay the opening credits on their own, just to watch that slow-motion shadowboxing one more time.

What works: De Niro’s total commitment, Joe Pesci’s sharp, wounded Joey and boxing scenes shot like fever dreams that still haven’t been topped.

What doesn’t: Jake is so hard to be around that the long stretches outside the ring can feel punishing, and the film keeps you outside looking in.

Who it’s for: Serious film fans ready for a tough character study, and anyone curious why these fight scenes still get talked about.