Not Every Loser Is A Loser

Rating: 9/10 (13 February 2005)

There is just something American about a bum rising up and making something about himself. Rocky Balboa has become synonymous with being a nothing, and proving that you can become something, and the 1976 film Rocky is where we find him. He's too small, too much of a nobody to do anything in his amateur boxing career, but when he gets his shot at the champion, Apollo Creed (played with all of the flair of an Ali-like boxer by Carl Weathers), he proves to himself that he can do something with his life. In true typical Philadelphia fashion, he is worshiped, not as a champion but as a guy with a lot of heart who didn't quite make it to the top. We Philadelphians have to take solace in getting close but we never get to the top. Sylvester Stallone wrote and starred in this Oscar winner for best motion picture of 1976, and portrays a down and out bum who had one shot and took it. In the end, he may not have won the fight, but he's happy with the girl, Adrian (Talia Shire), knows that he gave it his all, and came this close to be a world champion. The later Rocky movies were not quite as inspiring, because Rocky wins (in most of them), and where is the fun in that? Losing is still losing, but sometimes in losing, you find out something about yourself which is more important.