A triumph of self-pitying losers

Rating: 6/10 (1 April 2016)

I'm well aware of the story behind the creation of Rocky, especially the fact that Stallone had a very hard time to draw the studios' attention to the screenplay which was his vision of a chance to get out of the obscurity his career and himself were in at that time. So if we were to look at Rocky as a defining moment for the Stallone's star then yeah, it's a pretty important film. However, i don't think that a film's merits should be defined by whose career it helped boost. And, as a separate cinematographic product, Rocky is not just undeserving to be among the best films of all times, it's plain average.
The whole fiber of the film oozes hopelessness and despair. And maybe Philadelphia of the 70's was indeed a grim place to live in. But the main reason for setting up a story in such a depressing environment is to allude the life of Rocky Balboa and those surrounding him to some kind of a Cinderella story and make us root for the underdog. And it might have even worked if Rocky was even slightly intriguing and charismatic.
Instead, Stallone's script does its best to avert the audience from Rocky. The first half of the film is basically a showcase of what a bum (if not a true imbecile) Rocky is. Unable to talk like a human being, instead mumbling some deranged nonsense, Rocky is more like Frankenstein than Cinderella, roaming around the murky streets of the Philadelphia slums, devoid of any idea how to live his life today or what to do with it tomorrow. The only way to make him look less of a creep was to give him pet turtles and an affection for an equally socially and emotionally disabled woman working in a store nearby, which might be sentimental enough to work for some, but feels unbelievably forced and corny to me.
But for the Cinderella story to work, Rocky had to receive an invitation to a ball. A title boxing fight in his case. Which happens late enough to get bored by Balboa's constant downer's attitude (how's that for an example: "You gotta be a moron to wanna be a fighter, you know what I mean? It's a racket where you're almost guaranteed to end up a bum."). But, luckily, still early enough to give the film some room to capitalize on that change. Because when Rocky finally shuts it and starts doing something useful, he becomes watchable at last. Even inspiring for some.
The end of this fairy tale is as predictable as it's gracious for the protagonist. It's by no means realistic, but i guess Stallone just didn't have enough star fever to write a better ending for his character. Still, the fact that the film ends rather abruptly is probably a sign that the author had no idea what to do next other than to call a woman to the rescue. Unfortunately, the impression that the whole film leaves is exactly the same: unaware of its goals, hardly knowing what to do, simply trying to go the distance because... well, because there's no much choice otherwise. Apparently, the audience loved that blind weary spirit back in the day, but now it looks like the success of Rocky and the career of Stallone itself were nothing but freak luck.