Grudge Match
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: December 25, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
35
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
17
Negative:
12
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanDec 24, 2013
Formulaic, yes. Settled with as many reconciliations and promises of happiness as “A Christmas Carol,” absolutely. But a familiar pleasure, nonetheless. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyDec 24, 2013
A pleasant, albeit very minor, surprise: a movie that never quite rises above its clichés, but which nonetheless tries to invest them with emotional credibility. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonDec 25, 2013
Grudge Match belongs to a fast-growing genre I'll call "Senior Citizen Action Porn," or SCAP. Proud members of SCAP include "Red" and its sequel, "Red 2," the "Expendables" series, and the best of the 2013 crop, Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The Last Stand." Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenDec 24, 2013
Grudge Match never settles on the movie it wants to be, wavering uncertainly between a jokey old-guys comedy and something more dramatic and heartfelt. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTom RussoDec 25, 2013
Stallone and De Niro simply don’t generate enough combative spark to make this anything more than an amiably mediocre diversion. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubDec 25, 2013
Grudge Match at its core is an affront to the cinema gods, an attempt to capitalize off two iconic films for a few cheap laughs. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliDec 25, 2013
On balance, I think I'd rather have seen Rocky 15. Read full review
50
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallDec 25, 2013
This Grudge Match is winners take all and losers bought tickets. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandDec 24, 2013
Even though it's all preliminaries, no main event, Grudge Match is harmless enough as entertainment. Just not as harmless as its poor protagonists. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreDec 24, 2013
It’s perfectly passable holiday entertainment for people who dated during the “Rocky” and “Raging Bull” era. Just don’t expect this Grudge Match to be much of a challenge. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephanie MerryDec 24, 2013
Luckily, a strong supporting cast makes up for the protagonists’ tepid interactions. The brilliant duo of Kevin Hart and Alan Arkin steal the show. Read full review
50
The PlaylistKimber MyersDec 23, 2013
While it’s an occasionally funny film with good performances from its stars, it’s poorly and cheaply made. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineSteve MacfarlaneDec 22, 2013
It will come as a surprise to none that Grudge Match is so wantonly clichéd that to watch it is to explore the outer perimeters of one's own tolerance for a specific type of feel-good sports film. Read full review
40
Total FilmCurtis WoloschukJan 21, 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. Read full review
40
EmpireNick de SemlyenJan 20, 2014
An idea that must have sounded good on paper looks a lot less smart on the screen. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriJan 5, 2014
The result is maybe more interesting than we might have expected, but it’s not particularly funny. Read full review
40
Time OutEric HynesDec 25, 2013
Even by low standards, Grudge Match is astonishingly undercooked. Read full review
40
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlDec 24, 2013
Segal's gearbox gets jammed between recession-era sports drama and brainless comedy, especially as Hart hollers pop-culture punch lines like he's the squirrel sidekick in a CGI kiddo flick. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzDec 24, 2013
This is a wretched movie, trading on characters we revere, yet doing nothing to honor them. Director Peter Segal tries everything he can to recapture the magic of the earlier movies, but to no avail. It’s all rather sad. Read full review
40
VarietyAndrew BarkerDec 23, 2013
Essentially recasting “Grumpy Old Men” with the senescent specters of Rocky Balboa and Jake LaMotta, the result is sporadically amusing, with some chucklesome sight gags and crowdpleasing supporting turns from Alan Arkin and Kevin Hart, yet it’s all so overcooked that it defeats its own purpose. Read full review
38
USA TodayScott BowlesDec 23, 2013
Grudge could have saved itself with a rousing finale, but the buildup is so tedious you just want the fight to end. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesBill StametsDec 23, 2013
Grudge Match does not work on any level. The story is unconvincing. The comedy elements are weak... And, worst of all, the acting in most scenes — particularly those involving Sylvester Stallone and Kim Basinger — is atrocious. Read full review
32
Film.comLaremy LegelDec 28, 2013
Like a swollen boxer's eye, it should have been cut. Read full review
30
The DissolveMatt SingerDec 24, 2013
The rare cinematic experience that is both wall-to-wall jokes and wall-to-wall depressing. Read full review
30
The New York TimesStephen HoldenDec 24, 2013
[An] overlong, drab, not-so-funny sports comedy. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeDec 24, 2013
The movie only wakes up when Hart and/or Arkin are on screen (preferably together). Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 28, 2013
Watching De Niro and Stallone piss all over their most iconic roles provides no pleasure. It made me feel – Sad. Sad. Sad. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyDec 25, 2013
Everyone in the movie, of course, is anxious to see these comeback seniors beat each other up, except, perhaps, the viewing audience. Read full review
25
Portland OregonianStephen WhittyDec 24, 2013
It's not pretty. In fact, it's downright scary when the two of them, after an hour-and-a-half of insults, finally drop the robes and get into the ring. It's like two old leather handbags come to life and slapping each other around in slow-motion. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithDec 24, 2013
Even the audience at whom the movie is aimed — the crowd for whom dinner and a movie means meeting up at 3 p.m. — will be bored by the stale funk coming off every scene. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanDec 23, 2013
A director who really wanted to honor these actors’ legendary roles, rather than simply use them as a marketing hook, might have found a way to make this concept palatable. Segal (“Get Smart”) is not that director. Read full review
0
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovDec 18, 2013
This is a strange, unfunny, and unmoving boxing riff that simultaneously apes the hoary templates of Thirties and Forties fisticuffs films, nails cliches, and telegraphs its eventual outcome at every opportunity. A remarkably uninspired movie overall, Grudge Match is pure pablum melodrama all the way down to the final count. Read full review
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