Raging Bull probably lost because all of the characters were unlikeable-—there was no one to root for. None of the characters had any good traits. Can you name one character you liked? And boxing is REPULSIVE. Ordinary People, on the other hand, had likeable characters—even though they had flaws. DeNiro or Donald Sutherland? Not even close. Sutherland had the more difficult role and couldn’t rely on make-up and added weight to help his performance like DeNiro. Oscar always rewards the actors that play famous people and change their appearance (hello Charlize Theron) and overlooks the ones that just act with what they got. I will always choose movies about people and relationships over action movies, which BORE me.
Boxing films aren't my favorite sports films in general-with the exception of a few of the Rocky movies-but to me it seems like it gets inordinate praise.
If you take away Joe Pesce, it's a really mediocre film. Definitely not in the same league as The Gangs of New York, Taxi Driver, or evenThe Departed, which wasn't even an original idea-aside from the Jack Nicholson/Whitey Bulger plot-line.