Rocky

Rating: 8/10 (9 February 2013)

Rocky is a film that focuses on a small time boxer named Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) and his life on the tough streets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rocky whose nickname is the Italian Stallion, is joined by a supporting cast of his best friend Paulie (Burt Young), his love interest Adrian (Talia Shire), his tough spoken trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith), and his biggest opponent ever faced in a boxing ring Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers).
Rocky Balboa is a small time street thug that survives by collecting debts for a local loan shark and taking low paying fights in a local fight club. Rocky sees himself as a bum, and that is reinforced many times throughout the movie when many people refer to him as a bum including his trainer and father figure Mickey. Rocky does have a dream to be more in life and this can be seen in the symbolism shown in the names of Rocky's pets, his two turtles, "Cuff & Links", and his fish, "Mobey Dick". Rocky sees the "Cuff links" as a status of wealth, and "Mobey Dick" as being the biggest fish in the boxing world. While you may see Rocky as a tough guy, his image is softened when he does not have the heart to follow through with breaking the thumb of a person that fails to fulfill his debt to the local loan shark, or in Rocky's love for animals, which leads him to meet his love interest, Adrian.
Rocky's life changes when Apollo Creed the Heavy Weight Champion of the World, comes to town to promote a fight offering a virtual unknown a shot at the Heavy Weight title. It becomes obvious that Apollo does not consider Rocky a real contender because we never really see him train for the fight. This is reinforced when Apollo's trainer sees Rocky on a news segment and tells Apollo he needs to come take a look at the guy he's going to be fighting. Apollo dismisses his trainer's suggestion by talking about business investments to others in the room.
As Rocky trains for the fight you see his progression during the training and know he is ready for the biggest fight of his life as he sprints to the top of the long stairway to the Philadelphia Art Museum, backed by the inspirational song "Gonna Fly Now" by Bill Conti. Rocky and Apollo Creed meet in the ring and it is obvious this is just a show to Apollo, but he soon finds out he may also be in the biggest fight of his life when Rocky knocks him to the mat for the first time in his career. The fight has its dramatic up's and down's but goes the distance for a split decision. Rocky may not have won the fight, but he wins in life, putting behind his image of being a bum and giving him a shot at his dream of wealth and success. Rocky is a "Rags to Riches" story much like Cinderella Man (2005), it gives us hope that with the right opportunities anyone can be someone.